


A Hard Day's Night

by RXP4070



Series: BH6 Surgeons AU [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Doctors AU, Drama, Flirty Tadashi, M/M, Medical, Medical Jargon, Medical Procedures, OOC characters, Sexual Tension, aged up hiro, drama-ish?, hidashi, hospital au, more tags to come..., not related AU, will add characters as I go along...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-02-03
Packaged: 2018-03-06 21:10:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3148649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RXP4070/pseuds/RXP4070
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I took a good look at the guy I brought home with me. He’s about a head taller than me… but height doesn’t really matter to me anyways, because looking at his face closely, I’m not surprised that I brought him home after a few rounds of tequila at the bar… because he’s way hot. His hair was black and cropped short, and he’s built quite nicely; not overly buff… but not anyone you’d easily take down in a brawl.</p><p>He must have noticed my staring because he flashed me a toothy smile that made him look even more gorgeous, if that was even possible. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Thing.

**Author's Note:**

> A re-telling of Grey's Anatomy's pilot episode in Hiro's POV in the form of journal entires.... 
> 
> Note: Some of the characters are OOC. 
> 
> Credit for the original plot and storyline goes to Shonda Rhimes. Point of View narration is mine. That's all...

“The Game. They say a person either has what it takes to play, or they don’t. My mother was… one of the greats. Me, on the other hand… I’m kinda screwed.”

***

Everything’s fuzzy, okay? So, yeah, it’s a dream. Unless it’s not and it’s some sort of hallucination… but I’m not awake. So yeah, it has to be a dream.

Oh… and I think I’m having one of those tequila-induced dreams that I manage to get when I decide to go for broke and get wasted on liquor… because everything seems so real but all hazy like I’m watching from a fogged up window.

And in my dream, I’m watching open heart surgery going very, VERY wrong...

One surgeon has his hands inside the chest of the patient, trying to stifle a stream of blood squirting out of the patient’s arteries. Another was frazzled by the scene unfolding before her as her attending got drenched in the patient’s blood.

The nurses were scurrying about trying to be of any assistance to the doctors, handing out tools and gauze and trying not to panic at the sound of the shouts and the beeping of the machines hooked up to the patient.

“SUCTION!” the blood drenched attending screamed at his resident. “I need to see what I’m doing! Don’t just stand there! SUCTION!”

The surgeons are frantically trying to find out how the hell they fucked up the procedure.

I was standing there, just dumbfounded about what was going on in front of me. Where was all this bleeding coming from?!

I looked at the attending surgeon’s eyes. All I could see was complete focus and determination. His eyes said it all… “Don’t die on me!” And as they anxiously tried to remedy the situation, the heart monitor suddenly does that thing where it just beeps a long flat line…

Yup. They’re screwed.                                                             

***

I wake up startled.

Okay… not completely startled. Um… you know the feeling of a sudden wakeup call? The one where in your dream, you’re just walking down a road and suddenly, you stumble, and before you hit the ground and feel the concrete slapping your face, you suddenly wake up…? Yeah. That’s pretty much how my day all started.

I blink the sleep from my eyes, and try to get my bearings right. I look up to almost blinding light… which is odd, considering that I never open the drapes in my bedroom. As I squint to adjust my sight to the brightness, I realized that I’m not in my bedroom. I’m in the living room. I fell asleep on the living room couch.

Huh… I must have been pretty wasted last night to not bother going up to my bedroom.

As I get up, I notice something else… I’m naked.

Well, truth be told, going to sleep in the buff is nothing new to me. There were even a number of mornings when I got up naked and sometimes, I’m not even in my own house.

But waking up in my own house completely naked only means one thing… I must have brought someone home with me last night. And as I scan the surroundings, my notions were confirmed. There, sprawled on my hardwood living room floor, was a man.

Without a second thought, I took the blanket covering him, exposing his all too naked back and all too delicious ass, and wrapped it around my shoulders, covering my exposed form. As I stood up from the couch, I grabbed one of the throw pillows, seriously deliberating if I should stop ogling, and plopped it on top of the man’s all to firm and mouth watering butt.

This jostles him awake and I quickly grabbed whatever piece of my clothing I could find that was lying on the floor.

As I tried to tip toe towards the stairs, the man raised up his hand… with my underwear dangling from his fingers.

“This is…” he mumbles sleepily, as he offered me my now obvious choice of undergarments.

“…humiliating in so many levels.” I supplied as I grabbed my pants from him. “You have to go.”

He turns to sit up and stretches on the floor. I feel his gaze following my movements. “Why don’t you just come back down here and we’ll pick up where we left off?”

Wow. He’s such a tease. And so early in the morning too…

I considered his offer in my head as I tossed him his pants. But alas… I have other things to worry about.

“No. Seriously. You have to go.” I said nonchalantly while watching him put on his pants. “I’m late. Which isn’t what you want to be on your first day of work.” I explained.

I took a good look at the guy I brought home with me. He’s about a head taller than me… but height doesn’t really matter to me anyways, because looking at his face closely, I’m not surprised that I brought him home after a few rounds of tequila at the bar… because he’s way hot. His hair was black and cropped short, and he’s built quite nicely; not overly buff… but not anyone you’d easily take down in a brawl.

He must have noticed my staring because he flashed me a toothy smile that made him look even more gorgeous, if that was even possible. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

He stood up and took a look around. “So, you actually live here?” he asks with a smile.

Seriously? Small talk?

“No…” I answer… but then again… I do live here… “Yes…” at the moment, at least… “Kind of…”

“Oh…” he nods, trying not to look so confused. “It’s nice. Dusty… a lot… but its nice.” he supplied with that smile of his.

Seriously? Again with the small talk? Why don’t you just dress up and go?! I’m gonna be late for my first day of work if I hadn’t already made that clear already.

We just stood there trying to adjust to the awkwardness now beginning to be apparent to the both of us… nodding and smiling and being completely awkward.

He looks around again trying to take it all in. “How do you ‘kind of’ live here?” he asks, still working on the zipper of his jeans.

More small talk… great!

“I moved two weeks ago… it was my mother’s house. I’m selling it.” I explained just to get it out there.

“Oh, I’m sorry…” he replies, now done fastening his belt.

Sorry? “For what?” I asked. To this, he looks up at me with concern. Did I just say that out loud?

“You said ‘was’…” he replied.

Oh… he thinks… “O-Oh. My mother’s not dead. She’s…” I cut myself short. No more small talk. “…y-you know what? We don’t have to do the ‘thing’.” I brushed off.

“Oh… well, we can do whatever you want.” He suggests as he reached for his shirt hanging off the back of the couch flashing me with that smile of his. Why are you still flirting with me?

Maybe I wasn’t very clear… or maybe he’s still groggy with sleep. “No. The thing. We exchange the details… pretend we care…” I trailed off.

He just smiles at me with playful realization in his eyes as he puts on his shirt. Yeah… he gets what I’m talking about. But this has gone on long enough… I’m late. Fuck!

“Look. I’m gonna go upstairs and take a shower. Okay?” I smile at him.

Wait… Why am I smiling too?! Fuck! His smiling is contagious! I need to get away from this hot piece of hunk pie ASAP before his flirting gets the better of me.

“…a-and when I get back down here, you won’t be here.” I finished with a nervous laugh. “S-So… goodbye… um…uh…” I trailed off hoping that this will be the end of it.

“Tadashi.” he answers as he finished buttoning up his shirt and offers me his hand.

Wait… I just said we weren’t gonna do the thing! Why in the fuck would you go and introduce yourself?!

Well, I’m not the kind of person who leaves a guy hanging like that after he offers me his hand for a handshake. Especially not after the raunchy adventures we supposedly had together last night under the influence of too much alcohol.

“Tadashi. Right…” I shook his hand and “Hiro.” I laughed.

What the fuck did I just do? What in the fucking fuck did I just do?!

“Hiro...” he smiled, not letting go of my hand, as he came around from the other side of the couch trying to get closer to me. “…nice meeting you.”

God, he’s got a nice firm grip. And his hands are really nice… and I’m getting reeled in by his charm again. Get your head out of the clouds Takachiho! First day of work today, remember?

I reluctantly let go of his hand and slowly backed away from him towards the stairs stifling a giggle. “Bye, Tadashi...” I chuckled as I took the steps up toward the bathroom.

As I stepped through the bathroom door, I heard the front door close. I locked myself in the shower, ignoring the cold water raining down on me and trying to forget how giddy I was a while ago with Tadashi. I need to get ready. I’m late as fuck.

After I showered, I put on a clean-smelling shirt I fished from the hamper, put on the jeans I had on last night (which I found near the foot of the couch), grabbed my keys, and headed off to my first day on the job.

“Well, this day is really off to a good start.” I mumbled sarcastically as I brought my car to life and drove off the driveway and into the busy morning traffic of San Fransokyo.


	2. I'm Screwed.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I glanced up to Dr. Callaghan, and there was this focused look in his eyes. And that was the only confirmation I needed. The Game is on.
> 
> Like I said… I’m screwed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's easier to write in the First Person's Perspective rather than the Third Person... this update came out much quicker...

The drive was uneventful, as I drove towards my destination. Nothing much has changed since the last time I was here in San Fransokyo. The city’s still surrounded by bodies of water on three sides, ferry boats still glide across the bay carrying passengers heading towards their jobs, and the city’s signature landmark is still standing there with its steel cables and temple-styled ‘gates’.

Yup. Nothing much has changed… except maybe for me.

I push all of my thoughts aside as I grab a slot in the parking lot and headed off towards the reception area. I find out that orientation’s already started without me and I was told to head to the third floor of the West Wing to catch up.

On the third floor? What the fuck is on the third floor that the orientation had to move there…? Could it be…?

I headed to the nearest stair case at a run and took the steps two at a time. As I busted through the doors leading to the third floor, I caught a glimpse of a group of people passing through a set of double doors at the end of the corridor. I followed suit while trying to steady my uneven breathing that resulted from my trek up the stairs. As I pushed through the double doors, I made my way towards the back of the group, right behind this petite girl with wild pixie hair and purple highlights tip-toeing to get a better glimpse of the person speaking up front.

Hey, this girl is hot…

“Each of you here comes in today hopeful, wanting in on the game.” the person up front says in a calm yet commanding voice that carries even to where I stood.

I copied the girl’s actions and tip-toed to see who was leading this group of new recruits. Up front, addressing the crowd was a dude old enough to be my dad. And I’d know that patch of grey hair anywhere you’d put it… but I never would have guessed that the Chief of Surgery would be leading the orientation, let alone a guided tour.

Dr. Robert Callaghan, as I recall, was not someone who’d do grunt work like this. He’s the kind of doctor who was take charge and all that.

He was standing before another set of doors leading towards some room. He addressed the crowd in his commanding voice “A month ago, you were in Med School being taught by doctors…” he opens the doors and reaches inside to flick a switch. He walks in and heads towards the center of the room and turns back to us and continues his tirade “…today, you are the doctors.”

I follow the crowd and walked into an operating room. An honest to goodness operating room, complete with an operating table; an overhead surgical lamp; scrub sinks beyond a glass window, situated on the other side of the room; trays and shelves of medical equipment; and even a viewing deck for the students overlooking the entire scene.

I felt excited. Completely giddy with utter excitement. So this is what it feels like for a kid to be let loose in a toy store. Mind you, I’ve seldom been let loose in a toy store in my childhood days, but this comes close to that feeling.

I walked around the room, trying to absorb everything in. And I couldn’t wipe the smile slowly spreading on my face as reality began to sink in… ‘I’m actually here!’ I thought.

Arms crossed, Dr. Callaghan continued to speak, “The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point.” He then looks at each of us, as if sizing us up. “Look around you. Say hello to your competition.” At this, everyone started to look at the other doctors in the room, sizing up the others. I looked around as well.

There’s a mousy looking girl that looks like she’ll faint at the first sight of an open trauma. There’s another guy looking all smug and full of himself as he darted his eyes all over the room. Then there was the pixie haired girl, looking like she’s ready to take one of the doctors down any minute.

“Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty,” Dr. Callaghan stated. “Five will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave.” he continued. “This is your starting line. This is your arena.” as he motioned around the room “How well you play, that’s up to you.”

I glanced up to Dr. Callaghan, and there was this focused look in his eyes. And that was the only confirmation I needed.

The Game is on.

Like I said… I’m screwed.

***

After the heartwarming welcome personally given to us by the Chief of Surgery, all of us new doctors were directed towards the locker rooms. Once there, we were told who our assigned resident would be for the duration of our intern year while a resident handed out our new scrubs as well as our white coats and hospital badges. I looked at my badge with a bit of awe and stared at my name that was printed on the plastic. ‘Hiro Takachiho, Ph.D., M.D.’

But that feeling of awe soon vanished as I entered the locker rooms and I was engulfed in the smell of what seemed to be a mixture of antiseptic, sweaty gym socks, and some sort of rotting fruit. I’d have to endure this awful stench my intern year?

Seriously?!

I snap out of my reverie when people started shoving in and started claiming empty lockers. I claimed the nearest available one and shoved all of my stuff inside. I began stripping and changed into my new baby blue scrubs. I balled up my clothes and chucked them inside the locker and slammed the door shut. I put on my white coat and sat down on one of the benches to tie on my running shoes.

Yes. We were advised before hand to wear running shoes. Since we’ll be doing a whole lot of running from now on... Whoop-dee-doo.

As I looked up, I noticed the pixie haired girl from before shutting the locker door beside mine.

Lucky me. Maybe I can do a bit of flirting before we go meet our resident.

“So you must be the model I heard about?” I say as casually as I could. Be smooth Hiro. Be smooth.

The girl just looked at me with annoyance and scoffed as she began stuffing her boots into her locker.

“S-So… you’re not the model?” Oops… My bad. I thought for sure she’d be the one. No other intern here looks steaming hot like her, with her petite frame and slender physique, even in scrubs. But she didn’t seem to be pissed off at my comment, so it must mean she took it at some form of complement.

She turned to me with a smirk “Seriously, that’s gonna help with the ‘respect’ thing?” as she rolled her eyes.

Wow. So there’s another hot thing somewhere in here and I haven’t noticed yet? Man, I’m losing my touch! I wonder where Dr. Model is at?

I stood up, as I placed my stethoscope around my neck, and took a tentative step next to her. “You’re Leiko Tanaka, right?” I ask.

She just nods her head in confirmation as she starts to straighten up her coat and ruffles her hair up. “Yep… but call me ‘Gogo’. Which resident are you assigned to?” she inquires from me. “I got Abigail Callaghan.”

Well, at least I haven’t fucked up any form of interaction with Gogo, which is nice. “Lady Yokai? Me too.”

“You got Lady Yokai? So did I.” Someone chirped in from one of the lockers near our end.

‘I didn’t ask for a cock block, but real great timing...’ I mentally curse at the other intern that managed to worm his way into Gogo and I’s conversation. I just smirked in his direction while Gogo just rolled her eyes in indifference.

“…at least we’ll be tortured together, right?” he laughed uncomfortably. “I’m Wasabi… No-Ginger.” he introduced himself unaware of our obvious discomfort. “We met at the mixer…” he continued.

Wasabi was, in the kindest way possible, tongue-tied. He got flustered by Gogo all too easily… maybe because he started babbling nervously as we stood there “…you had on that black dress with the slit on the side and those strappy sandals and…” he said nervously to Gogo.

Gogo and I just shared a knowing look. He must have caught on because he paused and awkwardly mumbled “Now you think I’m gay…” and started defending himself and his actions. “I-I’m not gay… it’s just that, you were really unforgettable, and…” he trailed off as Gogo just put on a sort of smile for the poor guy when a resident started calling out names.

“Tanaka. Takachiho. Miyazaki. No-Ginger?”

Gogo got to him first – no wonder she has that nickname. “Abigail Callaghan?” she shrugged toward the resident.

“End of the hall,” he quipped and pointed towards the nurses’ station. As we started making our way towards our assigned resident, Gogo thought out loud, “That’s Lady Yokai?”

I took a good look at our resident. She doesn’t look anything like a scary night demon of folklore like I imagined. She looked a bit like me… only, not a guy… and certainly much prettier... but more like one of those nerdy professors that spent most of their time in research labs, forced to teach a course in college, and didn’t want to interact with the students and left most or all of the work to the teaching assistant. “I thought the Lady Yokai would look less like a pushover...” Wasabi chimed in.

“I thought Lady Yokai would be more like… a yokai,” I supposed.

“Maybe it’s professional jealousy?” said by a voice from behind Wasabi as she made her way in front of us leading the way. “Maybe she’s a brilliant doctor and everyone else calls her that because they’re jealous of her. Maybe she’s nice.” she finished.

Gogo and I stared. Whoa. This doctor was way hot… like, super model hot. I could see how her scrubs clung onto her tall, well shaped body in all the right places… and how her long blonde hair accentuated her face.

While I drooled over Dr. Model over here, Gogo, being who she was, scoffed. “Let me guess, you’re the model?” She turned towards her, with an annoyed expression, before tapping Dr. Callaghan on the shoulder and introducing herself “Hello, Dr. Callaghan. My name is Aiko Miyazaki – but everyone calls me ‘Honey’.” as she offered her hand with a nervous smile.

Dr. Callaghan turns to stare at Honey’s hand as if it was some sort of biomedical waste that needed to be thrown out and looked at each one of us, with a stern expression on her face. Honey quietly put her hand down. And in an irritated tone, Dr. Callaghan began her tirade. “I have five rules. Memorize them.” She looked at us severely, “Rule number one, don’t bother sucking up. I already hate you. That’s not gonna change.” as she turned away to sign a chart from the nurses’ station. “Trauma protocol, phone lists, pagers.” pointing at the objects on the table near her. “The nurses will page you and you answer your pages at a run…” she instructed as she shoved past Wasabi and Gogo and started walking towards the end of the hall. “…A RUN! That’s rule number two!”

We just stood there looking confused, when the nurse at the station cleared his throat, motioned at the things on the table, and pointed at Dr. Callaghan, already half way down the hall.

“I think I know why everyone calls her Lady Yokai…” Wasabi whispers to me. I tried to shrug off his comment as I grabbed a pager. “…I think she’s got anger issues and could change into a demon at any mo--” I left Wasabi with his thoughts as I hurried to catch up with the others.

Apparently, she didn’t notice that we weren’t following her as fast as we should have and was going on with her speech “…and your first shift starts now and lasts forty-eight hours…” double checking her watch as she spoke. “You’re interns. Grunts. Nobodies. Bottom of the surgical food chain. You’ll run labs, write orders, and work every second day and night until you drop AND DON’T COMPLAIN.” She continued as we made our way through the halls of the hospital.

At one point, we reached a door in the middle of a hall. Dr. Callaghan opened it, flipped a switch inside and presented a small room. “On-Call Rooms” she announced. “Attendings hog them, so sleep when you can, where you can...” We took a look around inside these so-called on-call rooms. The walls are lined with various posters, blinds on the only window, and two sets of bunk beds. Oh, and it smelled like blood, sweat, and sex.

I’m beginning to think that sleep isn’t the only thing that happens in here… which kinda made me excited in a naughty way. Getting it on with another doctor and playing patient has always been a fantasy of mine…

But my thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Callaghan who continued to rant “…which brings us to rule number three. If I’m sleeping, DON’T WAKE ME, unless the patient is actually dying.”

Mental note. Never Ever try to wake Dr. Callaghan and unleash the demon. Got it.

“Rule number four,” she continues “the dying patient better not be dead when I get there…” she pauses and looks at us like we’re all idiots. “…not only will you have killed somebody, but you would have woken me up for no good reason. Are we clear?” she asks every one of us, waiting for any stupid questions that we might have.

I tentatively raise my hand and she just looks at me, bored. “You said five rules. That was only four.” I stated.

As if on cue, her pager begins beeping.

The bored look on Dr. Callaghan’s face disappeared and was replaced with a look of sudden urgency. “Rule number five. When I move, you move.” as she ran off towards another hallway, while yelling at some by-standing doctors to get out of the way.

Well… better not break rule number five on my very first day as a doctor.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo... more characters... yay!
> 
> I figured, Lady Yokai would be appropriate considering that Abigail Callaghan is Robert Callaghan's daughter who turned out to be Yokai in the movie.
> 
> Also, comic book references...


	3. A Fish Out of Water.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re lost.” a girl taunted.
> 
> Me? Lost? No way.
> 
> I look at the girl lying on the bed with an annoyed expression. “I’m not lost.” I retort as I look around to see if anyone was around. Bad luck. The floor was empty… save for me and my patient.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I explain medical terms though?

Dr. Callaghan led us to the roof deck of the hospital just in time to see a medic helicopter slowly descending onto its designated landing area.

Rolling a gurney along as we ran, we headed towards the helipad and stopped short of the landing pad. We turned our faces away from the gust of the landing chopper. When its wheels hit the concrete landing, we hurried over to receive the emergent patient.

The poor guy must already be in critical condition to be brought over to the hospital in a medic helicopter.

I know I shouldn’t be giddy in this kind of situation… I mean, someone in that helicopter is actually dying… but the excitement of handling my very first hospital case made the adrenaline surge throughout my body.

I hope there’s at least bucket-loads of blood.

Even as the blades of the chopper spun rapidly overhead, we rolled the gurney over to the doors. A paramedic climbed out the helicopter and rolled out the patient onto the waiting stretcher while another briefed Dr. Callaghan of the patient’s condition. I had a hard time hearing the paramedic’s words over the whirring of the helicopter’s blades but I did manage to get the patient’s name. A teenage girl named Katie Bryce.

Turns out, there weren’t any bucket-loads of blood as I hoped there would be… kind of a letdown, but there are more pressing matters to attend to.

Looking closely at Katie, she seemed to be passed out, her eyes rolled up in their sockets. But she was jerking every which way like she was being electrocuted.

Our first patient was having seizures.

We rushed Katie into the hospital. As soon as we got her into a room, Dr. Callaghan started giving out orders, “Alright! Roll her over to her side…” she said, pointing to me. As she gave the other doctors orders, Honey handed me a syringe of whatever Dr. Callaghan told her to prep then barked at Wasabi to get a large bore I.V., “…don’t let the blood haemolyse,” she stated. I injected the patient with the drug and her jerking movements eased and she gradually relaxed.

As soon as we got the seizing under control, another doctor came in to assess the situation.

“I heard like we have a fish out of water,” he said to Dr. Callaghan.

“Absolutely, Dr. Krei.” she responded while handing over the patient’s chart.

I looked at him for a moment. Unlike Dr. Callaghan, who also wore the same baby blue scrubs like mine, he wore navy blue scrubs under the white coat. No doubt that Dr. Krei was an attending surgeon.

Dr. Krei looked at our handiwork, and seeing nothing wrong, patted Dr. Callaghan on the back. “Dr. Callaghan, I’m gonna shotgun her.” he commented.

Dr. Callaghan gave a small nod as Dr. Krei left the scene and turned to us and started to give out more orders, “That means every test in the book. CT, CBC, chem. seven, tux screen…” as she jotted down on Katie’s chart.

“Leiko, you’re on labs,” as she handed over Katie’s chart to her, “Wasabi, you’re on patient work ups,” pointing at Wasabi who finished hooking Katie to an IV, “Hiro, get Katie for a CT.” pointing to me. “She’s your responsibility now.” he added.

I gulped as I looked down on the unconscious teenager on the bed.

Can somebody else be responsible for her? I don’t want to be stuck on seizure patrol my entire shift….! I want to be in on cool surgeries! Not babysit.

“Wait, what about me?” Honey inquired in her petite voice as Dr. Callaghan turned to leave.

Dr. Callaghan looked back at Honey. With a hint of a smirk, she said “Darlin’, you get to do rectal exams.” leaving her with a look of disappointed shock on her face.

I felt bad for Honey for getting stuck with performing rectal exams the whole day. And I fear for her down there all by her own little self as patients might think that this beauty is the nurse and not a doctor that’s about to stick her fingers up their butts.

But I can’t stand here all day feeling sort of sorry for her. I need to get my patient up for a CT… wherever that is.

***

The elevator doors open again. This time, I am hoping I am on the right floor as I begin to push the hospital bed out the doors and off the elevator. I’m beginning to think that not asking for directions at the nurse’s station was a bad idea… but I’ve been here before. I just need to unearth that information from the recesses of my brain. Hopefully, sometime soon.

“You’re lost.” a girl taunted.

Me? Lost? No way.

I look at the girl lying on the bed with an annoyed expression. “I’m not lost.” I retort as I look around to see if anyone was around. Bad luck. The floor was empty… save for me and my patient.

“How are you feeling, sunshine?” I inquired as I slowly begin pushing the bed towards the end of an empty hallway.

“How do you think I’m feeling?” Katie replies in an exasperated tone. “I’m missing my pageant.”

“You’re missing your pageant?” I asked, trying to be empathic, as I turned right at the end of the hall.

 “The Spokane Teen Miss?” she began, “I was in the top ten after the first two rounds… This is my year. I could’ve won!” she explained it to me like it was the best thing in the world.

I just nodded at her words as I tried to remember my way towards CT. Noticing that I turned into a dead end; I quickly turned the bed around and headed towards the other direction.

Katie sat up at the change in direction and looked at me mockingly, “You’re SO lost. What are you, like, new?”

I tried to ignore her jibe. Yes. As a matter of fact, Katie, I am new. You just don’t need to know that, Little Miss Beauty Queen.

“So, what happened to you, gumdrop?” I asked, just so I can take the subject off of the fact that I am lost, and that I might be actually pushing her bed towards the morgue…

“Well, I twisted my ankle during talent rehearsal,” she stated. “I do rhythmic gymnastics, which is, like, really cool…”

Really? Rhythmic gymnastics? You consider that a talent?

I pretended like I was interested and nodded, as she continued, “…nobody else does it. And I tripped over my ribbon during practice and…” she paused, propped herself on her elbows, and with a bored expression “…I didn’t get stuck with someone this clueless… and that was like, a nurse.”

Seriously?!

I just rolled my eyes and tried in vain to hide my irritation. Now, I’m seriously wishing that this hallway does lead to the morgue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katie Bryce was taken directly from the episode. I didn’t want to think of an O.C. for a patient.
> 
> “I’m gonna shotgun her” – I’ll take charge; be lead doctor on the case.


	4. Royally Inbred.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you know that Hiro is inbred?”
> 
> “Like it’s uncommon around here to be a doctor’s--”
> 
> “No, I mean royally inbred. His mother is Maemi Takachiho.” 
> 
> “Shut up! THE Maemi Takachiho?”
> 
> "Uh-huh."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to cut the previous chapter short so I could sort of simulate the passage of time... ＿〆(。。)
> 
> Also, I think I suck at summaries... (シ_ _)シ

It has been almost seven hours since I started this intern job, and the enthusiasm I had earlier today is slowly fading. After what seemed like an eternity finding CT, I finally managed to have Katie admitted for scanning and hopefully, I wouldn’t have to go see her until I have to pick her up once she’s done.

So far, I’m not liking Miss Rhythmic Gymnastics. Not one bit.

Since I had a bit of free time on my hands, the least I could do is grab a bit of food to keep me moving. I started my trek towards the cafeteria, leaving Katie in the hands of the CT nurses.

While I was in line to pay for my food, I noticed my fellow interns already eating at a nearby table. Wasabi and Honey looked exhausted, while Gogo pored over a textbook, highlighter in hand, looking bored. Wasabi was stuffing his face with a sandwich as I heard him encouraging Honey to have something to eat, mentioning that, “…this shift is a marathon, not a sprint.” Honey was just sitting there with her eyes closed, looking squeamish and mumbled “I can’t.”

“You try eating after performing seventeen rectal exams. Lady Yokai hates me,” Honey groaned over her soda.

“So, it’s ‘Lady Yokai’ now? What happened to ‘professional jealousy’?” Gogo teased.

“Shut up…” Honey hissed.

“Lady Yokai is a resident. I have attending surgeons hating me.” Wasabi mentioned.

“Why? What happened?” Honey asked, curiosity evident in her tiny voice.

Wasabi started telling them how he couldn’t hook up Dr. Krei’s patient to an IV because he had junky veins. When Dr. Krei took over for him, he jokingly mentioned that “…I bet you missed a lot when you first started out, huh?”

No wonder you have attending surgeons hating on you, Wasabi. You don’t say that sort of thing about your attending surgeon. Ever.

 “…then he just gritted his teeth at me and said ‘you and I are gonna have so much fun together.’” Wasabi gulped nervously. 

Gogo, who appeared to be getting bored with the conversation – or rather, Wasabi’s whining – shut her book and casually mentioned “Did you know that Hiro is inbred?”

Uh-oh… they’re talking about me now.

I tried following their conversation as I slowly got up to the cash register.

“Like it’s uncommon around here to be a doctor’s--” Wasabi said with a mouthful of potatoes.

“No, I mean royally inbred,” Gogo cut off. “His mother is Maemi Takachiho.” she stated.

Oh boy. They’re not talking about me… they’re talking about my mother. Why can’t this line move any faster…?!

“Shut up! THE Maemi Takachiho?” asked Honey, amazed, as she leaned in closer to the table while Gogo nodded “uh-huh” with enthusiasm.

“Who’s Maemi Takachiho?” Wasabi asked as he sipped some soda.

Both women looked at Wasabi dumbfounded.

“The Takachiho Method? Where did you go to med school, Mekakushiko?” Gogo blurts with a laugh.

“She practically invented the abdominal--” Honey tried to add but was cut off again by Gogo, “She’s a living legend! She won the Harper Avery… twice!”

“So I didn’t know one thing!” Wasabi protested as he took another bite from his sandwich.

I finally made it to the register and paid for my meal. I turned around and headed for the table Honey, Wasabi, and Gogo were sharing. I heard Honey mumble as I began to walk over, “Talk about parental pressure…” with a saddened tone to her voice.

“I’d kill to have Maemi Takachiho as a mother…” Gogo sighed. “I’d kill to BE Maemi Takachiho!”

Okay… time to change the subject now.

I made my way to an empty seat across from Wasabi as I plopped my tray onto the table. I grabbed a few fries and took an angry mouthful glaring at my tray of food.

“Katie Bryce is a pain in the ass,” I complained. “If I hadn’t taken the Hippocratic Oath, I’d Kevorkian her with my bare hands!” taking another mouthful of fries as I finished.

I took note of the uneasy silence that fell over the table. I looked up from my tray and found the other interns staring at me like I had blood on my face or something.

“What?” I retorted.

Everyone shook their heads and returned to their own business. As I started on my food, Dr. Krei came from behind and paused at our table.

“Good afternoon, interns.” He spoke with a humored look on his face. “It’s posted, but I thought I’d share the good news personally.”

Everyone at the table sat up straight, all attention focused on attending surgeon present.

“As you know, the honor of performing the first surgery is reserved for the intern that shows most promise,” he said as he looked around the table. Honey turned in her seat to face Dr. Krei directly. Wasabi forgot chewing his food when Dr. Krei placed a hand on the back of his seat, nervousness slowly creeping up his face. Gogo closed her book again and leaned in towards our attending, excitement evident on her face. Even I stopped stabbing the food with my fork as I waited for him to continue.

“As I’m running the O.R. today, I get to make that choice,” clapping Wasabi on the back. “Dr. No-Ginger. You’ll scrub in for an appendectomy this afternoon.”

Our eyes, trained on Dr. Krei, soon found their way to Wasabi. All looks of hope soon turned to looks of envy. Wasabi swallowed hard, “Me..?” he mumbled as the realization hit him. Dr. Krei, with a hint of a smirk, said “Congratulations!” as he left our table to tend to his other patients.

I’d give anything to scrub in on a surgery; even if it was an appy… it’s still a shot at performing surgery, which is what I’ve wanted to do since changing into my scrubs this morning. But that honor went to Wasabi No-Ginger, who looked like he was going to throw up on the table at any moment.

“Did he say me?” Wasabi asked like he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

Honey began picking at her food, all traces of squeamishness gone; while Gogo went back to studying, her lips pursed in irritation.

I went back to stabbing my food, this time, with more force than intended.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maemi Takachiho – Hiro’s mother in the Big Hero 6 comics. But in this AU, she's a well known surgeon...
> 
> Mekakushiko – a play on ‘Mexico’ and ‘Mekaku City Actors’ *wink-wink*
> 
> Harper Avery – a fictional medical award mentioned numerous times in Grey’s Anatomy. Again, thinking of parody names hurts my head. (シ_ _)シ
> 
> “Kevorkian” – refers to ‘killing a patient’. Supposedly taken from or inspired by Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian (/kɨˈvɔrkiən/; May 26, 1928 – June 3, 2011), an American pathologist, euthanasia activist, painter, author, composer, and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he claimed to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He was often portrayed in the media as "Dr. Death"; however, many consider him a hero as he helped set the platform for reform. He famously said, "Dying is not a crime." (source: Wikipedia)


	5. Fight or Flight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I stopped dead in my tracks as my eyes widened at the sight of him. My breathing became faster and my pulse began racing. I can actually feel the adrenaline rushing through my blood vessels as I experienced the Fight-or-Flight response.
> 
> Then, just for a moment, he looked up and glanced my way.
> 
> Oh. My. Glob. 
> 
> OH! MY! FREAKING! GLOB!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the new chapter! I got so excited that I was able to finish this really fast.
> 
> Hope you all like this. I certainly do. ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

I got a page notifying me that Katie Bryce was done in CT. I was in no hurry to pick up Miss Beauty Queen Wannabe but Lady Yokai left me in charge of the brat, so I had no choice but to hurry to her side and take her back to her room. When I got there, I found her passed out on her bed. I checked on her vitals and was informed by a nurse that she had to be sedated during the CT scan.

Well, things are looking up for me today. At least I don’t have to deal with a bratty teenager undermining my sense of direction. Good thing too… because I wasn’t in any mood to pretend to be her babysitter, after losing out on a surgery.

I pushed her back to her room in relative peace. Once she was safely hooked to the hospital monitors, I went back to the nurse’s station to claim her charts to be updated. As I flipped through Katie’s chart at the station, I caught the tail end of the conversation Dr. Callaghan was having with Dr. Krei.

“…Wasabi No-Ginger barely made the cut into this program,” she said. 

“Oh, he’s my guy alright,” confirmed Dr. Krei.

I looked over to the both of them at the other end of the nurse’s station. Apparently, they didn’t notice me standing opposite them, too busy talking about Wasabi. I returned to updating the chart as I listened in on their argument.

I know it’s morally wrong to listen in on other people’s conversation. But, hey! They were talking about Wasabi and why he should not be given that surgery. I wanted in on that!

Dr. Callaghan scoffed. “Every year, you pick your guy, and every year, your guy suffers more than any other intern on surgery.”

“Terrorize one, and the rest fall in line.” I heard Dr. Krei respond as he turned towards another hallway. You could actually hear a bit of malice in his voice.

Dr. Callaghan became a bit exasperated at his response. “I get it. I respect it. But Wasabi?” he complained as he slammed a patient’s chart shut with irritation and followed suit. “He’s a puppy. He won’t be able to take the pressure…”

I wasn’t able to hear the rest of what Dr. Callaghan was saying about Wasabi being a puppy because, as of that moment, a couple hurriedly rushed passed them and the woman inquired from a nearby nurse “Katie Bryce? 3604?”

I looked up from Katie’s chart and searched for the woman looking for my patient. I saw the couple hastily walking towards 3604 and I followed them, taking Katie’s chart with me, as I prepared to face who I assumed would be her parents.

When I entered Katie’s room, her parents were already by the head of her bed. Her mom stroking her hair as she whispered, “Katie, honey? Mom and dad are here…”

Katie’s parents turned to me when they noticed me standing there. Her mom looked at me with a worried expression. The same kind of expression parents get when they see their babies get hurt… the kind of expression that I barely knew.

I could read it on her face: ‘What’s going on? Why is she asleep?’

“They gave her a sedative for the CT scan, so she’s a little groggy.” I explained.

The mom’s face relaxed a bit at that, but the worry was far from gone on her expression. “Will she be alright?”

I took a breath before I tried to respond, not really being sure how to go about explaining to Katie’s parents her situation… but before I could answer the mom’s question, Katie’s dad cut me off with a question of his own: “Our doctor at home said she might need an operation. Is that true?”

I hadn’t noticed that I was slowly backing out of the room, as if I’m backing away from imminent danger. Really, they’ve barely asked me two things but I am already having trouble forming my words, only wanting to flee from where I stood.

“She’s, um… well…” I began as I tried to clarify what was going on to Katie’s parents… but then, paused. I figured that I might screw this up and get an earful from my resident, or worse, my attending. It would be best to direct the parents’ questions to Dr. Callaghan or to Dr. Krei, if I could get a hold of him.

I took another breath, and continued talking to Katie’s parents. “You know… I’m not… I’m not the doctor…”

What?! I AM Katie’s doctor. Well… sort of…

The confused expression on both Katie’s parents made my situation a lot whole lot worse that it should have been.

Nice going Hiro! Fix this. NOW.

“I-I am a doctor… but I’m not Katie’s doctor.” I explained. “So, I’ll go get him for you.”

Katie’s father only nodded at my blabbering. Nice save, Hiro. Now go look for Abigail Callaghan. Hurry!

The awkwardness in room 3604 was so thick; you could cut it with a scalpel. Well, most of the awkwardness was my own doing so I couldn’t blame the parents if they thought I looked like I didn’t really know what I was doing.

I turned to go get Dr. Callaghan, and I felt like my feet couldn’t get me out of there fast enough.

***

I quickly walked through the hall, trying to find Dr. Callaghan. I bumped into her when I opened the door at the end, leading towards the lobby. I glanced at her, as I tried to catch my breath.

“What?” she asked; irritation evident in her voice.

“Katie’s parents have questions.” I explained. “Should you go talk to them, or should I ask Krei?”

She looked thoughtful for a bit. “Uh, no. Krei’s off the case.” She turned around, and scanned the area. “Katie belongs to the new attending now, Dr. Hamada,” she said as she patted me on the arm. “He’s over there,” pointing towards another doctor out in the lobby. I followed the direction of where Callaghan pointed me to and took a few steps in that direction as I looked for Dr. Hamada.

Then it happened…

I was looking at dark cropped hair, perfectly built body, and overly toothy smile. And I saw all of that (and then some) just this morning!

Oh no. No. No, no, no, no, NO! It can’t be! Not him…! Not Tadashi!

I stopped dead in my tracks as my eyes widened at the sight of him. My breathing became faster and my pulse began racing. I can actually feel the adrenaline rushing through my blood vessels as I experienced the Fight-or-Flight response.

Then, just for a moment, he looked up and glanced my way.

Oh. My. Glob.

OH! MY! FREAKING! GLOB!

Please… Please… PLEASE! Please, tell me that he didn’t see me…! He didn’t see me!

No dice! He doubles back and stares right at me, his smile widening.

FUCK ME!

I turned away and hurried towards the door, hoping to high heavens that it’s not his stare that I’m feeling, following me as I ran towards the other direction.

***

I ran past doors, doors, and more doors, trying my best to put as much distance between me and Dr. Hamada.

Seriously?! Tadashi is my new attending?! I thought I saw the last of his cute butt this morning as I threw him out of my house.

And we’re now working together in the same hospital?!

Seriously?!

Granted that he’s sizzling hot, and I wouldn’t mind another round with him between the sheets given the chance. Because, seriously, who wouldn’t?

Despite being sloshed last night, I can still remember his touch – firm yet gentle, and the way his fingertips sent fireworks go off in places he caressed; his kisses were so deep and full of longing and pent up desire; and the way he held me close to him as we rocked together, back and forth, towards our completion.

But if I had known that he’s my new boss, I would have skipped over him in a heartbeat, no matter how drunk I was on alcohol.

These memories sent tingles up and down my spine and I shook my head vigorously, trying to rid my mind of what transpired between Tadashi and me last night.

As I turned a corner, making a beeline for the stairwell as I tried to figure out where I could hide out for the rest of my career, I felt someone grab my arm and started dragging me towards the same door I planned on running into.

Once in the privacy of the stairwell, the grip on my arm loosened and I was face to face with last night’s conquest and today’s new attending.

“Dr. Hamada--” I began while simultaneously looking around the stairwell to see if we were actually alone in there.

“Dr. Hamada?” he interrupted as he looked at me with humored surprise. “This morning it was Tadashi. Now it’s Dr. Hamada.” he teased as he put his hands on his waist and leaning on the hand rail.

I looked at him with anxiety clouding my face, completely nervous as the fact that I slept with my attending started sinking in.

Take note that sleeping with him wasn’t at all a bad thing. Having said that, I’d like to jump his bones at this very moment… take his coat off and rip those navy blue scrubs off of him and just devour him in the stairwell – take in his scent, suck on his luscious lips, run my fingers through his unkempt hair, pull him closer and feel his heat…

But this could seriously cause me some trouble down the line if anybody found out about our illicit one time affair.                 

“Dr. Hamada, we should pretend it never happened.” I suggested as I tried to calm myself down with slow steady breaths, trying to avoid any eye contact with the man standing in front of me.

“What never happened?” he inquired, a hint of a smile in his voice. “You sleeping with me last night? Or you, throwing me out this morning? Because both are fond memories I’d like to keep.” he laughed as he leaned in a bit closer to me.

Why are you flirting with me at a time like this?! Granted, I don’t mind the flirting. I really like the shameless flirting, actually... and I’d like nothing more than to keep flirting with you shamelessly.

But this is going to jeopardize both of our medical careers if you hadn’t bothered to notice.

I stood my ground.

“No. There will be no memories.” I argued, shaking my head. “I’m not the drunk boy at the bar anymore, and you’re not the guy. This cannot exist!” I asserted. “You get that, right?”

I held my breath, waiting for his response.

He nodded.

Thank Gob! He’s getting it!

I let out the breath I was holding in and started to relax. And then…

“You took advantage of me and now you want to forget about it,” he accused humorously.

My mouth fell open with that accusation. What?! No! Well… maybe… yeah… but he doesn’t need to know that!

“I did not take--” I countered, but he just talked over me.

“I was drunk, vulnerable, and good-looking and you took advantage.” He explained with a cocky grin.

Glob! How thick could you get?!

I smiled. “Okay, I was the one who was drunk. And you were not that good looking…”

“Well maybe not today,” he joked. “But last night… last night I was VERY good looking.” as he leaned in a bit more towards me. “I had my red shirt on, my good-looking shirt. You took advantage.” He chided.

Okay. You’re having a ball flirting with me, aren’t you Dr. Hamada?

“I did not take…” I sighed again exasperatedly.

“Would you like to take advantage again? Say Friday night?” he asked with that godforsaken smile of his.

What? Are you for real?

I stared at him blankly, waiting for the punch line to work its way in.

Apparently, there wasn’t any. He was completely being serious.

Yes!

Hell YES!!

THANK THE HEAVENS ABOVE, YES!!!

The prospect of you kissing me senseless with passion… both of us naked on my bed, exploring each other’s bodies (hopefully while sober)… you thrusting into me again, whispering dirty to me in the heat of the moment… it all sounds real inviting. REAL INVITING.

However…

“No. You’re an attending. And I’m your intern.” I pointed out.

Tadashi just stared at me with a look in his eyes… the same kind of look he used on me at the bar last night, like he was slowly undressing me with his eyes.

“Stop looking at me like that!” I snapped.

“Like what?” feigning innocence.

I can’t believe this guy! Are you that desperate to get into my pants again… not that I blame you or anything. I am just that desirable.

“Like you’ve seen me naked.” I snapped again.

Tadashi just smiled at that remark. He tried to lean in a bit more into me, but I backed away.

“Dr. Hamada,” I warned, as I looked at him in the eyes, “this is inappropriate. Did that ever occur to you?”

He looked like I just burst his bubble. I turned away from him, leaving him with his thoughts, as I turned the door handle and went out into the hall. Before the door had closed, I heard Tadashi let out a disappointed sigh.

I couldn’t help letting a quiet one out myself as I walked towards the operating room gallery to watch Wasabi perform his appendectomy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay... so they meet again! I had such a fun time writing this... and I did it in my regular coffee place while waiting for my co-worker to arrive before we went to work. Let's just say that I recieved a couple of weird looks from the neighboring tables for giggling like a schoolgirl while typing manically on my keyboard. (*≧艸≦)
> 
> And I hope this tides you over for a few days... work is getting a bit hectic and I might not have the time to post the next update anytime soon... I already have the draft written out though so I might post the next part by Friday... φ(・ω・｀ )


	6. Double-O Seven.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Fifty says he pulls the whole thing off.” I snapped at no one in particular, my eyes trained on Wasabi in the operating room.
> 
> The room suddenly became quiet at my outburst. I turned my head around to find that everyone started staring at me in disbelief. Who could blame them? I’d be staring at myself with disbelief too if I could.
> 
> “He’s one of us down there. The first one of us,” I explained. “Where’s your loyalty?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part can be skipped if you prefer.
> 
> You might be asking: "why bother posting it then?"
> 
> My answer: "because I already had it written... and it would be a waste if i didn't put it up here..."

The viewing gallery was buzzing with activity when I got there and all of the other interns were already vying for Wasabi’s outcome. I sat at the front row, right in behind the viewing glass window. Below, I could already see Wasabi pacing, looking very pale and nervous, his back turned against the scrub room looking at the patient being prepped on the operating table, as he mumbled the steps to an open appendectomy under his breath.

No matter how envious I was with Wasabi for being picked to scrub in on this surgery, I would still feel the same way if I was in his shoes… anxious and scared under the glare of the operating lamp and the gaze of the other envious interns.

Everyone in the viewing gallery was already jeering on Wasabi as he turned even paler under the lights, if that was even possible.

“He’s gonna faint. He’s a fainter.”

“Nah… code brown, right in his pants.”

“He’s all about the flops…”

“…he’s gonna sweat himself unsterile.”

And then, the betting started on the surgery’s outcome. “Ten bucks says he messes up…”

“Twenty says he cries,” countered Gogo as she took an available seat in the row behind me.

Et tu, Gogo?

“I’ll put twenty on a total meltdown,” another intern offered.

Seriously?! You’re betting on bad outcomes? This is all getting irritating. You’re ganging up on a fellow doctor…

“Fifty says he pulls the whole thing off.” I snapped at no one in particular, my eyes trained on Wasabi in the operating room.

The room suddenly became quiet at my outburst. I turned my head around to find that everyone started staring at me in disbelief.  Who could blame them? I’d be staring at myself with disbelief too if I could.

“He’s one of us down there. The first one of us,” I explained. “Where’s your loyalty?”

Everyone shuffled in their seats uncomfortably as they settled to watch the operation about to begin.

I was beginning to think that what I said made a whole lot of sense to my fellow interns. What if they were in Wasabi’s place down there? They wouldn’t want the other doctors betting on their own surgery’s outcomes, right?

…And then Gogo blurted out, “Seventy-five says he can’t even ID the appendix.”

“I’ll take that action.” Honey agreed taking the seat beside me as she took a bite from her energy bar. This made the other interns laugh.

“Okay, No-Ginger. Let’s see what you can do.” Dr. Krei entered the operating room and walked towards Wasabi and they made their way towards the operating table. Everyone in the room became quiet, as we waited for Wasabi to begin with the surgery.

“Here it comes…” I whispered to myself, anxiously watching Wasabi, waiting for him to make the first move.

Wasbi breathed in to calm himself, looked over to the O.R. nurse, and, with confidence “Scalpel.”

“Scalpel.” the nurse acknowledged as she handed him the instrument.

Everyone in the gallery cheered when Wasabi took the scalpel from the nurse.  One small step for surgical interns, one giant leap for medical students!

Dr. Krei looked up at us in the gallery and motioned for us to zip it. His glare made it clear that he wasn’t playing around. Everyone shut up and shuffled in their seats once more, trying to get a better view of what was happening just a few feet below us.

Inside the operating room, Wasabi started cutting open the patient, beginning the appendectomy.

Wasabi took his time carefully doing the procedure he was tasked to perform. From where I was seated, he looked liked he had some troubles cutting through to the abdominal wall, but once past the peritoneum – the membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity, he declared “I’m there!” and the other interns started groaning in defeat for losing their bets.

From behind me, an intern swore “Damn, he got the peritoneum, open. I’m out!”

“Told you, he’s gonna do it,” I chuckled.

Eventually, he managed to identify the swollen appendix, separate it from the large intestines, and remove it from the body. The moment he declared “appendix is out”, we all cheered for him for a job well done. But this operation is far from over.

“Not bad…” Dr. Krei commented as he looked over Wasabi’s handiwork. “Now all you have to do is invert the stump into the secum, simultaneously pull up on the purse strings…” he instructed. However, the nerves must have caught up to Wasabi at some point during this time, as I noticed that he was beginning to rush the procedure, trying to keep up with Dr. Krei’s instructions. I looked down at him and noticed his hands shaking.

Slow down, Wasabi! You’re going too fast! You’re gonna rip open the…

Snap!

While suturing the stump of the appendix into the large intestine, Wasabi pulled the sutures too tight and tore the secum, just as Dr. Krei warned him to “…careful not to break them.”

We all looked down now at Wasabi with horror and worry. Some of the interns gasped while some others chuckled out maliciously.

Oh, Glob!

“…you tore the secum. You’ve got a bleeder. It’s filling with stool. What do you do now?” Dr. Krei asked a shaking Wasabi.

“Uh…” Wasabi froze up as he looked down on the open wound filling up with bloody goo.

“Think,” urged Dr. Krei.

Wasabi was still not doing anything, trying his best not to look too confused.

“Start the suction and you start digging for those purse strings before he bleeds to death.” Dr. Krei suggested as he motioned for a nurse to hand a clamp over to Wasabi.

But Wasabi didn’t take the clamp. Nor did he make any move in finding the torn flesh. He was just standing there with a scared look in his eyes.

“B.P.’s dropping,” declared the anesthisiologist.

Oh no…

“He’s choking,” Gogo whispered looking as scared as Wasabi.

Pull yourself together Wasabi! “Come on Wasabi.” I whispered.

Still… Wasabi didn’t move.

“Today!” snapped Dr. Krei. “Pull your balls out of your back pocket, let’s go!”

Wasabi! Do something! Anything but just standing there looking like Bambi!

The heart monitor started beeping more urgently as the patient’s blood pressure continuously plummeted down.

“What are you waiting for?!” Dr. Krei sighed frustrated. He looked disappointed at Wasabi.

“Getting too low here, folks.” warned the anesthesiologist.

Yep. Wasabi’s done. He’s choked…

“Get out of the way!” Dr. Krei commanded as he shoved a shaking Wasabi away from the operating table. “Pansy ass idiot…” he muttered as he took over Wasabi’s surgery. “Get him out of here.”

Wasabi slowly backed away towards the scrub room, looking defeated.

One of the interns, a shaggy looking guy with shoulder-length light brown hair, muttered “Double-O Seven” as he slipped out of the gallery.

“Yep! A total ‘Double-O Seven’,” agreed another intern.

“What’s ‘Double-O Seven’ mean?” Honey asked in confusion.

I glanced at her. “Licensed to kill,” I answered under my breath.

There was shuffling and movement as the other interns began filing out of the surgical gallery. I stood up as Wasabi walked out of the operating room looking like a beaten puppy.

‘One step forward, two steps back,’ I thought as I looked down at Wasabi, shaking my head in frustration, as I made my way out of the gallery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this was the most boring chapter I've written... full of medical terms. And didn't involve our favorite couple... but I figured that maybe, since there are other characters besides Tadashi and Hiro, I should shine the spot light on them once in a while...


	7. Nine-One-One.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I let out a sigh of frustration then I opened the doors that led to the hallway. As I turned to face the direction towards Katie’s room, I saw a few nurses were rushing into room 3604. I was filled with panic. I knew that as soon as I’d pass through that doorway, I’d be met with a 9-1-1 situation. The real deal this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter introduces a new addition to the crew of doctors... and I'm betting you already know who its going to be. (*≧艸≦)
> 
> just a gentle reminder though: some of the BH6 crew are OOC. just keep that in mind... |_・)

We were all in a secluded corridor that led towards the basement and storage bays lined with spare beds and other equipment used for patient transport. Honey came across this place sometime during our shift and declared that it was a glorious place to hang out.

I sat on one of the beds, fiddling with my fingers, resting my legs, while Honey was doing some stretching exercises beside me. Gogo was lying on her bed beside mine and Honey’s, once again poring over a textbook, looking bored.

I glanced down at my watch. We have already been working as surgical interns for nineteen hours.

“’Double-O Seven’… they’re calling me ‘Double-O Seven’, aren’t they?” Wasabi whined while he played around in a wheel chair.

“No one is calling you ‘Double-O Seven’…” Gogo, Honey, and I replied in unison, getting tired of whiney Wasabi.

“…I was in the elevator and Murphy whispered ‘Double-O Sev--”

Gogo slammed her book and jumped out of her bed. “How many times are going to go through this, Wasabi, huh?! Five? Ten? Give me the number or else I’m gonna hit you…” she snapped at Wasabi, making her way towards the nearby vending machines.

“Murphy whispered ‘Double-O Seven’ and everyone laughed,” defended Wasabi turning his wheel chair to face Gogo’s retreating back.

“He was not talking about you.” assured Honey as she did side curls beside me.

“Really?” he turned to face our bed.

But, really? Who else was he talking about?

I tried to be reassuring as well. “Would we lie to you?” I asked.

“Yes.” Wasabi answered indignantly.

Honestly, once you get to know him, Wasabi is an okay guy… but I could seriously punch out his teeth if he didn’t stop his whining.

Seriously!

“’Double-O Seven’ is a state of mind.” announced Gogo from the vending machines.

He snorted at this. “Says the girl who finished top of her class at Sutanfoodo.” he retorted.

Even though I couldn’t be certain of it, I felt Gogo was smirking by the vending machines at this statement of fact.

“Maybe I should have gone to geriatrics.” Wasabi lamented. “No one minds when you kill an old person…”

I couldn’t help but laugh quietly at that bit of dark sense of humor.

“Surgery is hot. It’s the marines, it’s macho, it’s hostile, it’s hardcore,” Gogo enumerated. “Geriatrics is for freaks, who live with their mothers and never have sex,” she pointed out as she plopped onto her bed and returned to reading her textbook.

“I have got to get my own place…” Wasabi mumbled as he spun his wheelchair away from us, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Honey and I chuckled at that piece of opinion.

–beep beep! –beep beep! –beep beep!

We all scrambled to look at our pagers. As the other’s face relaxed, mine became full of anxiety.

“Oh man. It’s ‘9-1-1’ for Katie Bryce. I have to go,” I exhaled as I leapt off the bed and took off at a run towards the nearest stairway.

***

I took the steps three at a time, making full use of my leg muscles. Around me, the loud squeaking of my sneakers echoed deafeningly in my ears as I tried to sprint hastily to get to my patient. I had assumed that when you get a page that screams ‘9-1-1’, you’re patient is at the verge of dying… or is already dead.

When I reached the designated floor to Katie’s room, I yanked the door open so hard that it shook as it hit the wall. I hurriedly ran  towards room 3604, yelling “excuse me, excuse me!” as I dodged other doctors and nurses left and right so I can get to my patient before she decides to bite the bullet. My chest was heaving as my lungs attempted to collapse onto themselves. It felt like drowning…

I entered Katie’s room, out of breath, expecting a great deal of activity. The sight that welcomed me when I got there was completely unexpected.

Sitting upright on her bed was Katie, looking bummed while flipping through a teen magazine. No nurses. No commotion. Nothing that looked remotely close to a ‘9-1-1 situation’.

I stared at her, breathing heavily, as I struggled to figure out what was going on.

“Took you long enough,” she complained, putting down her magazine.

What the fucking hell?!

“You’re okay? The nurse paged me 9-1-1.” I breathed out harshly.

“I had to go all ‘Exorcist’ to get her to even pick up the phone,” she explained like it was the simplest thing in the world. She closed her magazine and looked at me expectantly.

I grabbed her chart, seeing if any one of the nurses made any changes to it since I last left her with her parents.

“Wait, nothing’s wrong with you?” I asked, catching my breath, taking a good look at her chart to confirm my suspicion.

She simply replied: “I’m bored.”

“You little--- I’m not a cruise director!” I exclaimed. I wanted so much to just smother her smug face with a pillow.

I put on my stethoscope as I stepped closer to Katie. I placed the chest piece on her chest, to check on her breathing and heartbeat, but I couldn’t hear hers over my own quickened pulse and heavy breathing.

“You don’t have to wig out,” she sighed. I tried so damn hard not to roll my eyes at her. “The pageant’s supposed to be on cable, but this crappy hospital doesn’t get the channel.” she complained. “If that cow, Kylie Wood walks off with MY crown, I have to see it. Can you call someone?”

I just looked at her in disbelief.

You’re kidding. You’re fucking kidding me right?!

“Okay. This is an actual hospital. There are sick people here.” I lectured heatedly as I stowed away my stethoscope in my coat pocket. “Go to sleep and stop wasting my time!” I fumed.

“I can’t sleep. My head’s all full.” she moaned.

“That’s called ‘thinking’.” I retorted as I turned away from her to make my way out of her room. “Go with it.”

I stomped out of there seething.

I can’t believe I just got played by a kid! Seriously!

***

Most of my shift was spent monitoring Dr. Callaghan’s other patients that have come in over the course of the day and running around the hospital is starting to take its toll on me.

Why are all the important labs spread across different floors and wings and long corridors? CT’s up in the second floor west wing, but X-Ray’s at the other end of the east wing… and MRI’s somewhere in the fifth floor. The medtech labs are near the back of the emergency room, and O.R.’s are on the third floor.

Seriously?!

Why the architects and engineers did the design of the hospital this way, I’ll never know… but it’s making our lives unbearably difficult.

I found myself in one of the hospital’s sick bays to check on one of Callaghan’s patients that have been recently admitted, and I overheard one of the interns order a nurse to start antibiotics on a patient, declaring that she’s got post-op pneumonia.

However, the nurse wasn’t sure he’s made the right diagnosis.

“I don’t know. I’m just an intern,” he sneered at the nurse. “Here’s an idea, why don’t you go spend four years in med school and let me know if it’s the right diagnosis. She’s short of breath, has a fever, and she’s post-op. Start antibiotics.”

I took note of the patient’s symptoms.

She might not have post-op pneumonia. It may be something else entirely. You should definitely do a test to positively it rule out. That’s standard procedure.

The nurse just turned away from him, looking a bit pissed. He made his way towards where I was leaning against the reception desk. “God, I hate nurses,” he mumbled as soon as he was close to my hearing range and made a beeline for the space right beside me.

I glanced at him and noticed that he was the intern that started this whole ‘Double-O Seven’ brouhaha. Thank you for that, by the way. I owe you one for making me spend the last few hours of my shift listening to incessant whining from my co-intern.

“I’m Fred,” he smirked, “I’m with Dr. Jeremy. You’re with Lady Yokai right?” he asked as he reached past my face to deposit a chart.

I didn’t know what it was that irked me about him… maybe it was the ‘Double-O Seven’ thing… maybe it was the way he treated the nurse… I don’t know, but to me, he seemed like a Grade ‘A’ certified douche.

“She may not have pneumonia, you know,” I argued, not looking away from my own chart. “She could be splinting, or have a PE.” I suggested.

He just sighed. “Like I said: ‘I hate nurses’.”

That struck a chord.

“What did you just say? Did you just call me a nurse?!” I snapped at him.

“Well, if the white cap fits…” he taunted back.

Yep. A Grade ‘A’ certified douche. And I wanted to kick his ass… Hard. And right about now, I’m in a serious need of a punching bag. What great timing.

Just as I was about to pull all of the stops on this guy, Fred, my pager started going off.

–beep beep! –beep beep!

Saved by the beeping pager, you one lucky bastard. I’ve got emergent patients to attend to.

I looked down at my pager. ‘9-1-1. Katie Bryce.’

“Damn it, Katie.” I cursed under my breath as I walked out of the sick bay headed towards the stairwell.

I took my sweet time climbing up the steps. I was in no rush to entertain the whims of a spoiled teenager. I wondered what it would be this time around.

Maybe she wants me to set up some sort of entertainment system in her room since she’s already complained about the hospital’s crappy TVs once.

At least I won’t be heaving when I get there.

I let out a sigh of frustration then I opened the doors that led to the hallway. As I turned to face the direction towards Katie’s room, I saw a few nurses were rushing into room 3604. I was filled with panic. I knew that as soon as I’d pass through that doorway, I’d be met with a 9-1-1 situation. The real deal this time.

My slow pace morphed into a fast sprint towards Katie’s room, and I felt the adrenaline coursing through my blood vessels.

“What took you so long?” demanded a nurse as soon as I passed by her. I did not answer. I was too caught up in taking all of it in.

Katie was violently flopping on her bed, her eyes rolled up in their sockets, just like when we took her from the medic helicopter. Her heart monitor was beeping non-stop, as a warning that her blood pressure is low and still dropping. The nurses had their hands over her, pinning her to the bed.

 “…she’s having multiple grand mal seizures. Now, how do you want to proceed?”

I could barely hear another nurse shouting Katie’s current condition as the pumping of blood in my ears almost drowned out the noises, the beeping, and the yelling.

“Dr. Takachiho? Are you listening to me?”

The nurse’s voice drifted in and out.

“She’s got Diazepam. Two milligrams Norazepam, I just gave a second dose.”

Everything around me was moving in slow motion.

“Dr. Takachiho, you need to tell us what you want to do.”

It was pure pandemonium.

“Dr. Takachiho!”

I blanked out.

Damn it, Katie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sutanfoodo – Stanford in romaji.
> 
> ~~~
> 
> I'm sorry if Fred seemed like a complete douche... and to all the readers out there that has a soft spot for Fred, I am so terribly sorry for that!
> 
> I like Fred too... A lot... and I also considered switching his role with Wasabi... but I figured that Wasabi would seem completely different if I wrote him out to be the douch-y character... so yeah... φ(．．;)
> 
> Again... I'm so sorry for writting Fred this way. (シ_ _)シ


	8. Clear!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can feel another rush of adrenaline coming on… everything is slowing down again… everything is sounding distant and faded… voices drifting in and out. I couldn’t think straight and I didn’t know what to do. I just want to run away from here! Far, far away from here.
> 
> Damn it, Katie!

I breathed in deeply and calmed myself down, grabbing Katie’s chart while the nurses still tried their damnest to stop Katie’s seizures. Her seizures continued despite the drugs the nurses injected into her system.

The Nurse (Nurse A) said they’ve already pumped a second dose of Norazepam in her. So how many has that been since she started seizing?

“She’s full of Norazepam?” I asked, confirming the data written down on the chart.

“She’s had four milligrams,” validated a nurse (Nurse B) who was now holding an oxygen mask over Katie’s face.

I didn’t know what to do. I feel like I’m totally in the dark.

“Did you page Dr. Callaghan and Dr. Hamada?” I breathed out nervously.

Breathe, Hiro. Breathe.

“Norazepam’s not working,” Nurse A pointed out.

Damn. What else…?!

Work!

Stupid! Empty! Brain!

WORK!

“Phinobarbatol. Load her with Phinobarbatol.” I ordered. I watched as another nurse injected the drugs into Katie’s IV line.

The seizing persisted.

“Pheno’s in.” confirmed Nurse A.

I glanced at the monitor. No change.

“Still no change,” Nurse B observed.

Damn. Damn. Damn!

I’m running out of options here...!

“You paged Dr. Hamada?!” I asked again, hoping this time I’ll get an answer.

“I just told you!” Nurse B argued.

“Well page him again!” I argued back. “Stat!”

Well where the hell is he?! His patient’s hasn’t stopped her seizing and I’m out of my breadth here! I’m barely holding onto myself, expecting not to throw up at any given minute!

Nurse B looked to me again. “What do you wanna do?!”

I can feel another rush of adrenaline coming on… everything is slowing down again… everything is sounding distant and faded… voices drifting in and out. I couldn’t think straight and I didn’t know what to do. I just want to run away from here! Far, far away from here.

Damn it, Katie!

Suddenly, Katie stopped seizing. The heart monitor’s beeping abruptly stopped and was replaced by a long flat tone. My eyes went wide and I suddenly forgot how to breathe. I could barely hear Nurse B shout “heart’s stopped!” over that loud flat tone ringing in my ears.

“Code blue! Code blue!”

Oh, dear Yoda, help me…!

I felt someone push past me and everything started speeding up again. Somebody mentioned ‘crash cart’ and this brought me back to reality.

Katie’s crashing!

I ran to Katie’s bedside together with the wheeled in crash cart and took the defibrillators out of their docks and let a member of the crash team apply the conduction gel on the paddles.

“Charge the paddles to 200!” I instructed as I rubbed the paddles together to spread the gel and placed them on Katie’s chest.

“CLEAR!!!”

_Bzzzzt~!_

I looked over at the heart monitor attached to Katie. Its one note beep skipped, and then resumed its monotonous tone.

_..._

_..._

_..._

“Still defib. Nothing.” noted Nurse B.

I heard the crash nurse say “charging, nineteen seconds…”

Okay… one more time.

“Charge to 300!” I ordered.

“CLEAR!!!”

_Bzzzzt~!_

_..._

_..._

_..._

Still no heart beat.

“Anything? Twenty-seven seconds…”

Gob! She’s been down almost half a minute!

You need to come back Katie! Come back!

“Charge to 360!” I turned to the nurse.

“CLEAR!!!”

_Bzzzzt~!_

_..._

_..._

_..._

Still one monotonous tone from the heart monitor. Still nothing!

“Come on, Katie!” I nervously muttered as I started manually massaging her chest to pump her heart.

“Forty-seven seconds!” noted the crash nurse.

Down for almost a minute.

Damn… damn… damn!

“At sixty seconds you’re supposed to--”

Come on, Katie! Don’t be the first patient that dies on me! I don’t want you to be the first patient that dies on me! Don’t you dare die on me, Katie! Don’t you fucking die on me! PLEASE! DON’T DIE!

“Charge again!” I called out to the crash nurse as I grabbed the defibrillator paddles once more.

But there was no response…

What the hell?! Did I just stutter?! Charge the goddamned paddles!!!

“Charge again!!!” I called back.

“Charging…”

_Bzzzzt~!_

I held my breath.

Please come back Katie…! Please come back… PLEASE…!

“Anything…?”

...

...

...

_\---beep. ---beep. ---beep._

I looked up at the heart monitor and I breathed a sigh of relief. There it was. Katie’s heart beat.

“I see sinus rhythm.”

“Blood pressure’s coming up.”

“All right now. Pressure’s returning. Grid’s coming back…”

I breathed in heavily after I managed to revive Katie from lifelessness. What a rush! The adrenaline is subsiding and I could finally feel my heart rate normalizing… but I couldn’t stop my hands from shaking as the reality of almost killing my patient finally sunk in.

Out of nowhere, Dr. Hamada comes running in Katie’s room, stopping at some point beside me.

“What the hell happened?” he asked as he tried to catch his breath.

I turned to him and explained. “She had a seizure,” I panted out heavily.

“A seizure?”

“-and her heart stopped.”

“You were supposed to be monitoring her,” he accused as he took his stethoscope and walked to Katie’s bedside. He leaned over her, placing the instrument over her chest and checked her vital signs.

“I-I checked on her and she…” I stuttered, trying to explain.

But Dr. Hamada cut me off irritably, “I got this, just-just go.” he dismissed.

What?! What was that? I just saved her life! And you’re just---!

Fuck this!

I walked out of Katie’s room and came face to face with Dr. Callaghan. Great! Not only is Hamada harping on me, I now unleashed the fury of Lady Yokai.

“You get a 9-1-1, you page me _immediately_ , not in the five minutes to get you to the emergency! _Immediately_!” she lectured as he walked towards me, looking very irate.

I paged for you and for Hamada repeatedly! You were the ones who weren’t responding to my pages and took your precious time while I was fumbling with the crash cart to revive her. It’s already over, and you’re just now getting here? Who needs to learn the meaning of the word ‘immediately’?!

“…you are on my team and if somebody dies, it’s my ass! You hear me?!” she scolded as I walked past her.

I did not respond. I just kept walking away from the scene… as far away from Hamada as physically possible.

Callaghan called back at me, but I simply ignored her angry voice and just kept walking away. I made my way through a series of hallways and corridors, trying to get outside of the hospital as fast as my legs could take me.

The thought of all of it being somehow my fault made me sick to my stomach.

I passed by one of nurses stations where Gogo was talking to one of our fellow interns. She called out to me when she saw me walk by but I simply glanced at her as I quickened my pace and ran towards the hospital doors. I heard her calling out to me as she followed me outside.

Rain was falling down as I ran outside beyond the walls of the hospital, making a beeline towards a nearby tree and threw up the contents of my stomach on the wet and muddy earth. I paid no attention to the pitter patter of rain that landed on my hair and the back of my neck as I clutched the tree trunk with my one hand and soothed my stomach with the other.

Behind me, I sensed Gogo recoil, undoubtedly making a face of disgust. And who can blame her? I’m outside, in the pouring rain, spewing guts out at a tree.

I looked pathetic, even in my own eyes.

I spat out the last remnants of vomit and turned to go back inside the hospital, sniffing and clearing my throat. I looked straight at the doors with determined eyes as I walked back towards them. I passed Gogo, looking shocked and worried, and gave her a sideways glance.

“If you tell anyone, ever…” I threatened… but figured that Gogo understood.

She followed silently behind me as I re-entered the hospital.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this came out later than planned. If i wasn't exiled to an _early_ morning shift for the week, I would have posted this one sooner...
> 
> I have now developed a sense of hatred towards morning people... particulary the perky ones.  
> Where do they get their freaking energy so early in the morning?! Seriously!


	9. Something Pretty Rare.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As if on cue, who should walk in but none other than Hamada, with Lady Yokai following behind, carrying a stack of files.
> 
> “Well, good morning…” he greeted with a weary smile as he strode in, hands in his coat pocket, looking quite tired but sounding way too upbeat for me at this time of the morning. He glanced my way briefly before making his way towards the front. I just bowed my head, and tried to make myself smaller… wishing that the floor could just swallow me whole.
> 
> Great. Just great…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Hope you had a wonderful week... :)
> 
> I just had a wonderful time at work *hints at sarcasm*.
> 
> Anyways... I've finally finished this update and I'm hoping, if all goes well... I can have the next update by Friday. :)

Twenty-four hours.

Twenty-four freaking hours of being a doctor… and I, somehow, already hate it. Not only am I dead tired and losing a whole lot of beauty sleep, but to top it all off, I also stink! I mean, who would want to get it on with me if I don’t smell like a proper and respectable physician? Or a proper human being, for that matter…

Oh… not to mention the fact that I almost killed a patient during my first day as a doctor and have both my resident and attending surgeon hating on me for almost killing said patient.

And did I mention that I made myself look like a complete weakling in front of my co-intern by spewing guts on a tree?

Yeah… and all of that in a span of twenty-four freaking hours!

And I have another twenty-four freaking hours left in my first shift to look forward to...

***                                                                          

I somehow found myself sitting beside Gogo on a small bookshelf in one of the hospital’s conference rooms this morning. While I’m hunched over myself, happy that I can at least get a break from running around, Gogo was busy suturing a banana.

Not really understanding why she’s suturing a banana, I go ahead and let myself ask a stupid question.

“Okay, I know this is going to sound completely stupid… and, don’t take this the wrong way but, what are you doing?”

“Suturing a banana…” she blankly replied under her breath.

I can see that…

“Why?” I looked on with amusement.

“…with the vain hope that it wakes up my brain.” she said tiredly, concentrating on the loops and stitches she was slowly making on the fruit’s flesh.

Seated in a wheely chair across from us, Wasabi chuckled. Gogo looked up at Wasabi with an irritated glare. “What are you smiling at, Double-O Seven?” she spat.

Wasabi abruptly stopped laughing, looking quite betrayed by Gogo’s words.

I tried not to smile at that… tried.

She briefly glanced back at Wasabi before returning to her banana. “I’m sorry. I get mean when I’m tired.” Gogo apologetically explained as she continued with her sutures.

“You know what, I don’t care,” Wasabi brushed off, “I comforted a family, and I get to hang out in the O.R. today, all is well.” He smugly retorted.

Good for you Wasabi. Good for you… I mean, yeah, watching Dr. Krei performing heart surgery from the scrub room isn't what I'd consider as 'hanging out in the O.R.' but still, good for you.

“Does anyone know why we’re here?” Gogo asked, sounding exasperated, as she drowned out Wasabi’s voice and finally taking notice of the other interns now packed inside the small conference room.

As if on cue, who should walk in but none other than Hamada, with Lady Yokai following behind, carrying a stack of files.

“Well, good morning…” he greeted with a weary smile as he strode in, hands in his coat pocket, looking quite tired but sounding way too upbeat for me at this time of the morning. He glanced my way briefly before making his way towards the front. I just bowed my head, and tried to make myself smaller… wishing that the floor could just swallow me whole.

Great. Just great…

“I’m going to do something pretty rare for a surgeon,” he began, looking around as he addressed the interns that were packed in the room. “I’m going to ask interns for help.”

Everyone became quiet at his announcement.

“I’ve got this kid, Katie Bryce. Right now, she’s a mystery. She doesn’t respond to her meds, labs are clean, scans are pure, but she’s having seizures. Grand mal seizures with no visible cause. She’s a ticking clock. She’s going to die if I don’t make a diagnosis.” He paused, shaking his head slightly.

“Which is where you come in,” he looks around at everyone. “I can’t do it alone. I need your extra minds, your extra eyes. I need you to play detective. I need you to find out why Katie is having seizures,” he admitted, sounding a bit desperate.

“I know you’re tired, you’re busy, you’ve got more work than you could possibly handle. I understand. So, I’m going to give you an incentive.”

All eyes were on Tadashi now after making that bold announcement.

“Whoever finds the answer, rides with me,” he declared. “Katie needs surgery. You get to do what no intern gets to do… scrub in to assist on an advanced procedure.”

I looked around, and it seemed to me, that with Dr. Hamada’s promise of scrubbing in, the atmosphere in the room filled with excitement. Beside me, Gogo sat up straight, completely forgetting her stitched up banana. Across from me, I noticed Honey pulling her hair back, as if she’s on her way for a run. Fred, who I just noticed was standing on the other side of the room, started cracking his knuckles with a fierce look in his eyes. The buzz of excitement can be felt across the entire room, but this didn’t waiver Dr. Hamada.

“Dr. Callaghan’s going to hand you Katie’s chart.” He pointed at her beside him as she stepped towards the conference room table and placed the files on top of it.

“The clock is ticking fast, people. If we’re going to save Katie’s life, we have to do it soon.”

I stared at Tadashi, making his way out of the room, as the other interns scrambled forward to grab a copy of Katie’s chart from Callaghan.

***

The morning went by in a haze and I once again found myself in the sick bay, busily updating my other patients’ charts. From across the room, I can hear Fred arguing with the same nurse from last night.

“Did you page me again?” he accused.

“Yes. 4B’s still short of breath.”

He sighed. “Look, give the antibiotics time to work,” impatiently looking down at 4B’s chart and then at his watch.

“The antibiotics should have worked by now,” countered the nurse.

“She’s old. She’s freaking ancient. She’s lucky she’s still breathing…” he droned, shutting 4B’s chart closed.

I glanced at him disapprovingly.

Seriously?!

Where did you go to med school…? Did they forget to teach you a thing or two on patient care.

“Now, I got a shot to scrub in downstairs on a patient who wasn’t alive during the civil war.” he ranted, handing over the chart to the annoyed nurse. “Don’t page me again.”

I watched Fred walk out of the sick bay, glaring at the back of his head while I walked over to the nurse’s station. I was too busy debating the morals of punching his smug face into his thick skull that I didn’t notice Gogo coming over towards me.

“I really want in on Hamada’s surgery,” she whispered. “You’ve been the intern on Katie since the start. You want to work together? We find the answer, we have a fifty-fifty chance of scrubbing in.” she bargained.

I looked over at her, considering her proposal.

“I’ll work with you, but I don’t want the surgery. You can have it.” I decided, looking over at her.

“Are you kidding me? It’s the biggest opportunity any intern will ever get!” she asserted, confused at my sudden decision to just let go of an opportunity like scrubbing in on an important surgery – brain surgery to boot, when in reality, I’m just trying my damnest to avoid Tadashi.

“I don’t want to spend any more time with Hamada than I have to.” I stated blankly.

“What do you have against him?” she asks again, more interested this time.

Stop digging into my personal issues, Tanaka!

“If we find the answer, the surgery’s yours. Do you want to work together or not?” I argued, trying to conceal the exasperation in my voice.

She just grinned and nodded at me. “Deal.”

We set off for the hospital library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have a burning hatred for perky morning people...!  
> If it wasn't criminally wrong to stab someone's eye out with a pen, I would have done it already...


	10. One in a Million.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What are the answers? What if no one comes up with anything?”
> 
> “You mean if she dies?”
> 
> “Yeah.”
> 
> “This is gonna sound really bad, but I really wanted that surgery.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hells yeah! The fic is progressing... slowly but surely!
> 
> Will be back to my regular work shift next week so I will be able to stay up late and write to my heart's content! Huzzah!
> 
> Also, myriad of medical terms ahead. Fair warning...

The hospital library was just that… a library: an organized collection of sources of information made accessible to a defined community for reference and borrowing that have been neatly filed and catalogued. Except you won’t find any Jane Austen, Harry Potter, or John Green on the shelves. You’ll only find medical journals, research papers on various medical advancements, theses and dissertations of med students, books on medicine, and of course, records of patient charts.

Gogo and I decided to begin our investigation here, and headed to the shelves that held past neurological cases, hoping to find a clue as to what Katie Bryce has.

We took down chart after chart after chart, and eventually had to sit on the library floor so we can peruse through the files of these patients. We both read silently at first, but we began speaking any symptoms we found back and forth to each other.

Soon enough, Gogo and I became comfortable and started discussing other things besides Katie’s case.

“Well, she doesn’t have anoxia, chronic renal failure, or acidosis,” Gogo enumerated as she looked over a file in her hands. “…It’s not a tumor because her CT’s clean…”

A pause…

“Are you seriously not gonna tell me why you won’t work with Hamada?”

Aha! There it is!

Seriously, Tanaka!?

“No.” I confirmed. “What about infection?”

“No, there’s no white count, she has no ceteal lesions, no fevers, nothing in her spinal tap…”

Another pause…

“Just tell me.” she whined, looking over the file she was reading to stare at me.

Damn it, Gogo! Why the hell are you so gung ho about this? Just let it go. Would that be okay?

But then again… I kinda feel like Gogo’s the kind of person that won’t let it go… and she’ll just pester me until I cave.

“You can’t comment, make a face, or react in any way.”

Silence...

I’m taking that as an affirmative.

“We had sex.”

More silence.

I glanced at Gogo beside me and saw her open her mouth in surprise, then closed it again when she saw me glancing at her. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at her reaction.

At least she was discreet about it…

“What about an aneurysm?” she offered, trying to hide the obvious awkwardness in her voice.

“No blood on the CT, and no headaches.” I confirmed, taking all the files we pulled out and piling them together.

“Okay. There’s no drug use, uh, no pregnancy, no trauma…”

Another long pause.

“…was he good?” she asked again… no longer embarrassed about the situation. “I mean, he looks like he would be, was it any good?”

Hells yeah!

Tadashi Hamada wasn’t only good… he was _honest to goodness good with a straight up capital ‘G’_!

I could have gone on and on about how _real good_ he was… but unfortunately, Gogo, we’re not in our pajamas, sitting comfortably on my bedroom floor, brushing each other’s hair... we’re trying to find a way to save Katie from her unexplainable seizures.

Let's save the cock talk for the cocktail party, shall we, Gogo?

I shut the files I was reading. I got up and shook off Gogo’s question as I placed the files back on their proper shelf. I turned around to face her and leaned back on the adjacent book shelf.

“What are the answers? What if no one comes up with anything?” I asked her, sounding drained and tired.

“You mean if she dies?” Gogo questioned, stretching her legs on the floor, closing the file that she had open on her lap.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

Gogo looked disappointed at that prospect and shook her head. “This is gonna sound really bad, but I really wanted that surgery,” she confessed.

I glanced down at her thoughtfully and started voicing out my concerns: “She’s just never gonna get the chance to turn into a person. The sum total of her existence will be almost winning Miss Teen whatever…” I trailed off, crouching down again, so I could be level with Gogo.

“You know what her pageant talent is?” I whispered to her, a playful smile on my lips.

“They have talent?” she chuckled.

I grinned evilly. “Rhythmic gymnastics.” I sneered.

“Oh, come on.”

We both laughed.

And great Scott that felt good… poking fun at ‘rhythmic gymnastics’ and ‘miss teen queen what-the-hell’ and just having a good laugh really felt so welcome after all we’ve been through.

“What is rhythmic gymnastics? I don’t know – I can’t even say it, I don’t know what it is…” I snickered while Gogo quietly suppressed her laughter into giggles.

“Isn’t it something with a ball and a ---”

But I didn’t hear what else she was saying… because, at that moment, something hit me. I glanced at her with a smile. Gogo glanced back at me, somehow not picking up what I realized. “What? Hiro, what?”

I stood up. I felt a good rush of adrenaline this time.

“Get up!” I encouraged her. “Come on.”

***

Gogo was keeping up with me as we both ran (speed-walked, rather) through halls and corridors to find Dr. Hamada so we could tell him our speculations regarding Katie’s case while discussing optional courses of treatment for her. Gogo managed to spot him about to board an elevator.

“Dr. Hamada, just one moment,” Gogo breathed out with Dr. Hamada’s back turned to us as he took a step into the elevator. “…um, uh, Katie competes in beauty pageants…” she supplied once he turned to face us.

“I know that, but we have to save her life anyway.” he replied with a teasing smile while the people behind him chuckled at his remark.

The elevator doors began to close, but Gogo pushed them back aside and continued her tirade: “Okay, she has no headaches, no neck pain, her CT’s clean…” pushing the elevator doors aside again to keep them from closing, “there’s no medical proof of an aneurysm—”.

“Right,” Hamada sighed impatiently, looking at us like we only just found out about this now when he told all of this information to us just this morning.

“—but what if she has an aneurysm anyway?” she supplied quickly, rubbing her hands together, hopeful.

Hamada shook his head at us, “There are no indicators.”

“Ah, but she twisted her ankle, a few weeks ago…” stopping the elevator doors from closing again, “…when she was practicing for the pageant –”

“Look, I appreciate you trying to help, but –” Hamada interrupted, quite annoyed at us for already stating facts, and a bit embarrassed for holding the elevator listening to his interns while keeping the other passengers from their destinations.

But I just plowed right on through while Gogo tried again to keep the doors open, “She fell. When she twisted her ankle, she fell.”

Hamada nodded slightly, and then turned around to face the other passengers apologetically. One doctor shook her head impatiently and muttered “this isn’t helping” to Hamada.

“It was no big deal, not even a bump on the head, you know…” pushing aside the elevator doors once more, “…she got right back up, iced her ankle, and everything was fine…” another attempt at keeping the elevator doors open, “…it was a fall so minor her doctor didn’t even think to mention it when I was taking her history…” another push at the doors, “…but she did fall.” one more push.

Hamada sighed exasperatedly. “Well, you know the chances that a minor fall could burst an aneurysm? One in a million. Literally!” he called out, as the doors finally closed.

Gogo and I just looked at each other in defeat. At least we gave it a shot.

We turned away from the doors that separated us from Hamada and a fifty-fifty chance to scrub in on an advanced procedure, feeling like we just went back to ‘square one’, when the elevator dinged, and out stepped Dr. Hamada, despite the many moans and grumbles from the other passengers.

“Let’s go,” as he passed the threshold and stepped towards Gogo and me.

“Where?” Gogo asked, quite confused.

Hamada turned to us and smiled. “To find out if Katie’s one in a million.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't talk to a person who's riding a lift and you're not.  
> either get on the lift so you can talk to them or you can ask them to step off the lift and continue your conversation....
> 
> Thanks. :)


	11. Be a Shark.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I took in a breath and sighed out the nervousness I felt before pushing myself away from the wall and turning the corner to face my fellow interns.
> 
> I stood a couple of feet away from the wall, facing both Gogo and Honey, as the former gave me a piercing look, while the latter merely gave me an awkward shrug, trying not to meet my eyes. I crossed my arms in front of me forming a personal shield around myself. I looked directly at Gogo, my mouth opening and closing a few times, words failing to come out.
> 
> I let out another breath before finally voicing out what I thought would constitute an apology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... for those of you who worried about Gogo knowing Hiro's secret, here's _part_ of your answer.

We brought Katie back in to get another CT, as ordered by Dr. Hamada. Gogo and I were waiting anxiously for the scan to load, hoping against hope that our assumptions were true.

When the screen finally revealed Katie’s scans, Hamada’s jaw dropped at what he saw. “Well I’ll be damned,” he muttered, finally getting a better look at the image on the screen. The scan of Katie’s brain looked fairly clean, as indicated before… it also showed active blood circulation and, as the scan technician pointed out, what appeared to be a small shadow just by the surface of the brain.

There is was. A burst aneurysm.

“It’s minor, but it’s there…” Hamada confirmed.

Gogo and I looked at the image closer and took note of it. “It’s a cerebachnoid haemmorhage.” Hamada explained as he pointed at the shadowy smudge on the screen. “She’s bleeding into her brain.”

Hamada glanced at us and gave us a small smile then turned to look at Katie who was already being taken out of the machine. I glanced around at Gogo and she just looked at me ecstatic.

We found the answer.

Us.

A pair of interns.

On our first – well, technically second – day as doctors.

I would have given Gogo a high-five… but finding the answer didn’t feel like a high-five moment.

***

“She could have gone her entire life without it ever being a problem.” Dr. Hamada mentioned to us, talking about Katie’s aneurysm, as we headed towards the nurse’s station across from the visitor’s lounge. “One tap on the right spot…” as he snapped his fingers.

“…and explode.” Gogo mimed an explosion with her hands.

“Exactly! Now I have to fix it. You two did great work.” He patted us both on the shoulders, smiling. “Love to stay and kiss your asses, but I gotta tell Katie’s parents she’s having surgery.” He turned towards a nurse and asked for Katie’s chart.

Gogo and I hung back waiting for Hamada’s further instructions. When he didn’t say anything, Gogo stepped up to him.

“Um, Dr. Hamada, you said that you’d pick someone to scrub in if we helped?” she reminded him.

Hamada turned back around. “Oh, yes. Right. Um, I’m sorry, but I can’t take you both…” He looked at both of us, choosing between me and Gogo.

Hamada glanced at Gogo apologetically, “…It’s gonna be a full house. Hiro, I’ll see you in the O.R.” turning to nod at me.

We just stood there for a moment or two in silence. I was surprised that Tadashi chose me to assist in the surgery and somehow, I managed to find myself silenced by his decision. That’s an awesome opportunity for any intern, and I’m fortunate enough to have someone like Dr. Hamada, a renowned neurosurgeon, pick someone like me.

I stood there, flustered, looking at Dr. Hamada. Gogo turned to look at me with a hopeful gaze. I looked at her, confused.

...

...

...

Crap!

Crappity-crappity-crap!!!

I did tell her that she can have the surgery and that I didn’t want to spend time with Tadashi any more than I have to…

But…

I can’t believe I’m about to do what I’m about to do… but I’m not letting this one go.

I think I just gave Gogo an awkwardly apologetic look paired with an uncomfortable shrug. She turned to Dr. Hamada, who now turned his back on us to go find Katie’s parents, and then back at me, her hopeful gaze now altered into a defiant stare that says: “ _Really? You’re one of those people? Seriously?!_ ”

She stormed away from me, pissed.

“Gogo…” I tried calling her back, but she just strode away from me angrily, shaking her head as she went.

***

I found Gogo with Honey on one of the spare gurneys that were lining our secret hallway with Honey obviously trying to console her, but every time she turned to Gogo to speak, she would merely purse her lips and pick at the label of the water bottle she was holding.

I didn’t come out of the wall I was hiding behind at first; still trying to gather the gall to face her after the double-crossing I did earlier.

“Maybe Hiro couldn’t---” Honey began but was cut off once more by Gogo with a small grunt.

I took in a breath and sighed out the nervousness I felt before pushing myself away from the wall and turning the corner to face my fellow interns.

I stood a couple of feet away from the wall, facing both Gogo and Honey, as the former gave me a piercing look, while the latter merely gave me an awkward shrug, trying not to meet my eyes. I crossed my arms in front of me forming a personal shield around myself. I looked directly at Gogo, my mouth opening and closing a few times, words failing to come out.

I let out another breath before finally voicing out what I thought would constitute an apology.

“I-I’ll tell him I changed my mind… I… you can--”

Gogo rolled her eyes at me.

“No. Don’t do me any favors,” finally tearing off the label from her water bottle. “It’s fine,” crumpling up the paper and tossing it across from her side of the hallway.

“Gogo, I—“

“You know what,” looking at me now with a full on glare and her voice rising slightly, “you did a cut throat thing. Deal with it. Don’t come to me for absolution,” squeezing her bottle slightly making it crunch under her grip. “If you want to be a shark, be a shark.”

I let my arm fall down to my sides, defeated.

“I’m not a –” I began to whine, but Gogo just ignored me and let out her frustration at me, which I did kind of deserved, by the way.

“Oh yes you are!” she snapped. “Only it makes you feel bad in your warm gooey places.”

I tried to be calm and just take her accusations. After all, I did back out on giving her the surgery I said I didn’t want. I thought she was through, but then she lashed out at me again.

“You know what, screw you!” she spat. “I don’t get picked for surgeries because I slept with my boss –“

My eyes widened in shock. That information was shared with you in confidence! And now you’re broadcasting my one time illicit affair with Tadashi? In front of Honey – our colleague?!

What the hell, Gogo?!

“—and I didn’t get into med school because I have a famous mother. You know, some of us have to earn what we get.”

Okay. Hold up. You are going way too far.

Why are you dragging my mother into this?! WHO are YOU to bring my mother into this?! You don’t have the right to bring my mother into this!

You don’t know me!

You don’t know the hell I’ve been through!

You don’t think I had to earn my way into med school?! You think I had it easy because I’m the son of an award-winning surgeon?! You think I got this internship because of my mother’s credentials and not by my own merits?!

Seriously?!

YOU DON’T KNOW SQUAT!!!

Seething, I turned my back on my two colleagues and walked back the way I came, putting some well needed distance between me and Gogo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was very difficult to write. I don't know if I was able to portray enough of Hiro's emotions, particularly his frustrations and anger...


	12. Superhero.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wasabi caught that and straightened up a bit. He turned slightly to me and asked wistfully: “We’re going to survive this, right?”
> 
> I purposefully didn’t respond to his question and only remained silent as I closed my eyes, feeling far more relaxed than I have been since I began my internship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was posted a bit late, considering I was stuck and had writter's block... but once past it, I think this is the longest post i have ever written for this fic... so, hope you guys enjoy reading this...

Forty hours.

I have been a doctor for forty hours. Forty FREAKING hours! I haven’t changed out of my scrubs since I first put them on, and I desperately needed a shower - yesterday. I only got a total of six – maybe seven tops – hours of sleep, and my feet are already killing me.

So far I pretty much remember where every major department is. And I haven’t gotten lost since that trek through the halls with Katie. Funnily enough, we did end up on the floor leading to the morgue at one point. I smile at the memory as I press for the elevator to take me down to the surgery floor.

Today has been one hell of a ride.

I got on the empty lift pressing the button for the third floor as the doors closed in front of me. In the span of forty hours, I’ve made and lost friends, had the most awkward moment in my life so far, and almost unintentionally killed a person.

But it did also have some high points. For one, seeing my name with the ‘M.D.’ at the end printed on my badge got me all fired up; I was able to correctly diagnose Katie’s condition – with the help of Gogo, of course; and impress our attending for finding the key to saving her life. And in a few hours, I’ll be scrubbing in with Dr. Hamada to assist in Katie’s brain surgery – which is going to be awesome!

However, I still do feel bad about breaking my word to Gogo, and somehow, that sort of diminished the excitement I felt about the surgery.

I needed to find out if Tadashi really gave me that surgery because of my own merits, or because we slept together.

When the doors finally opened on the third floor, I stepped off the elevator and made my way to the surgery prep room where Dr. Hamada was giving Katie a buzz cut. I leaned against the door frame as I watched Tadashi run an electric razor through Katie’s long blond hair.

“Do you really have to cut all of her hair off?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of me when Tadashi noticed me standing by the entry way. “She won’t be able to participate in pageants anytime soon with a bald head, you know…” I commented.

Tadashi only gave a small smile. “I promised I’d make her look cool,” continuing to shave off Katie’s hair. “Apparently being a bald beauty queen is the worst thing that happened in the history of the world.” He scoffed. We let out small giggles at the jibe.

When I finally got the laughs out, I sheepishly looked at Tadashi and asked: “Did you choose me for the surgery because I slept with you?”

“Yes.” Tadashi said with a straight face as he rolled his chair to the other side of Katie’s bed to unplug the razor.

There was a pregnant pause between us. My sheepish expression suddenly became a bit apprehensive. I guess Tadashi caught that, and with seriousness, he told me “I’m kidding.”

That answer was good enough for me.

“I’m not going to scrub in for surgery,” I informed him. “You should ask Gogo – I-I mean, Leiko. She really wants it...” I stated, placing my hands inside my coat pockets.

“You’re Katie’s doctor.” Tadashi insisted. “And on your first day, with very little training, you helped save her life. You earned the right to follow her case to the finish.”

I blinked at Dr. Hamada. I’m not saying I don’t deserve it… but I did say that I wasn’t interested in the surgery. But after what he said, I realized that maybe I did want it after all…

“You… you shouldn’t let the fact that we had sex get in the way of taking your shot.” Tadashi added in a whisper, shrugging as he brought up that small little fact. I think I blushed a bit at his comment because he gave me that breath-taking smile of his as he stood up to make his way out of the room.

“I’ll see you later in surgery…” he whispered, placing a hand on my shoulder as he walked past.

***

Sometime after I had that short conversation with Tadashi, I ended up outside of the hospital, taking in the cool night air of the city. A very welcome break from the overpowering smell of antiseptic.

I wandered along the outside of the hospital and ran into Wasabi sitting on a low wall facing the parking lot. He gave a curt nod when he took notice of my presence and I gave him a small smile in return.

“Hey… do you mind if I join you up there?” I asked, motioning for the space beside him.

“Sure, little man.” he nodded, shuffling on his spot toward the wall’s edge, offering me a hand up.

I inwardly cringed at that. Who are you calling a ‘little man’? Granted that I only stand at five feet and four inches at my fullest height, but just because you’re taller and have the build of a wrestler doesn’t give you the authority to call me ‘little’.

Still, I gladly gripped at his wrist as he pulled me up and huffed out a breath when I finally got onto the low wall. I took a seat a couple of inches away from him, and we both stared out at the night sky looking at the lights that littered the cityscape and hearing the distant buzz of life away from the hospital.

“How was your shift? The other interns still giving you hell and calling you ‘double-o seven’?” I asked in attempt at idle conversation.

“Not as much…” Wasabi sighed. “Though I think ‘bearer of ill tidings’ would fit me better than ‘double-o seven’,” he laughed awkwardly.

I guess he noticed the look of confusion I seemed to have on my face because he proceeded to tell me what had happened with his patient.

Apparently, Dr. Krei’s by-pass surgery went downhill real fast and his patient ended up dead on the operating table. But before bringing the patient up to the O.R., Wasabi promised the wife that everything will be okay and that she’ll see her husband after surgery – stating that Dr. Krei is the best cardiothoracic surgeon there is. When Krei found out about his misguided attempt at consoling a patient’s family, he became angry, stating that “you never promise a patient’s family a good outcome!” He told me how Krei told him that he had to be the one to tell the wife the sad news.

He saw her and her children break down in grief at the loss of their family member and felt as if he was responsible for their loss despite not having a hand in the patient’s treatment.

“At least you’re patient didn’t die on you…” he added, an obvious attempt at steering the conversation in a more positive direction. “I heard you and Gogo found out what’s wrong with her. Congratulations!”

I gave Wasabi a weak smile and we both fell into an awkward silence after that.

“I wish I wanted to be a chef.” I sighed after a few moments, still looking out at the city. “Or a ski instructor. Or a kindergarten teacher… I could have pursued robotics, instead. Much less drama than medicine anyways…”

“You know, I would’ve been a really good postal worker,” Wasabi empathized, shrugging.  “I’m dependable.”

I gave out a small chuckle at his admission, glancing at him. He glanced back with a smile as he went on, “You know, my parents tell everyone they meet that their son is a surgeon - as if that’s a big accomplishment. A superhero or something, yeah…” shaking his head at his statement.

“If they could see me now…” he sighed out miserably, leaning on his hands as he hunched forward.

I could somehow relate to what he was feeling. The pressure to succeed and meet our parents’ expectations was something that we both have in common.

“When I told my mother I wanted to go to medical school, she tried to talk me out of it.” I admitted, leaning back on my hands and arms as I stretched my legs outward, willing the strain to leave my body. “Said I didn’t have what it takes to become a surgeon. That I’d never make it.”

Wasabi shuffled awkwardly on his spot, giving me a sad, fleeting look. I merely shrugged it off.

“So the way I see it, superhero sounds pretty damn good.” I sighed, smiling at nothing in particular.

Wasabi caught that and straightened up a bit. He turned slightly to me and asked wistfully: “We’re going to survive this, right?”

I purposefully didn’t respond to his question and only remained silent as I closed my eyes, feeling far more relaxed than I have been since I began my internship.

I don’t know, Wasabi.

I honestly don’t know…

***

I still had a few hours before Katie’s scheduled surgery and I spent the meantime updating Abigail Callaghan’s other patient’s charts before I went up to the surgery floor to scrub in. The sick bay was still full of patients but not overly crowded so I still had a lot of things left I could do.

In the middle of the room, I saw Dr. Robert Callaghan, the Chief of Surgery, interrogating Fred about one of his patients.

“She’s still short of breath,” Chief Callaghan stated. “Did you get an ABG or a chest film?!”

“Oh, Yes sir. I did.” Fred boasted, looking cheeky.

“And what did you see?” the Chief ventured.

“Oh… well, I had a lot of patients last night and– “ Fred mumbled, scratching his chin.

The Chief interrupted him. “Name the common signs of post-op fever,” Dr. Callaghan challenged.

“Uh, yes sir.” Fred muttered as he began to fish for his notebook in his pocket. Before he could flip through its pages though, the Chief calmly countered: “From your head. Don’t look it up. It should be already in your head…Name the common causes of post-op fever.”

Fred looked flustered, visibly shaken by the Chief’s question. Chief Callaghan stared Fred down as he struggled to answer his question.

“Uh… the common causes of post-op –“ Fred began, but Chief Callaghan sighed out in impatience. He turned around towards the room and loudly asked everyone within hearing range: “Can anybody tell me the common causes of post-op fever?”

Every medical student – intern and resident – in the room began shuffling for their notes to try and answer the Chief’s questions first. I looked around and internally sighed.

Seriously? No one can say the answer from the top of their heads?

“Wind, water, wound, walking, wonder drugs.” I enumerated confidently from where I stood. “The Five W’s.”

Chief Callaghan glanced around the room at the disappointed looks of the other doctors before turning to me once more, nodding for me to continue.

“Most of the time: wind, splinting, or pneumonia,” I proceeded, closing the chart I was updating once the Chief had his attention on me. “Pneumonia is easy to assume…” glancing briefly at Fred who looked utterly irritated, “…especially if you’re too busy to do the tests.”

Chief Callaghan turns to Fred and gave him a pointed look. Fred bowed his head in embarrassment. The Chief then returns his gaze onto me. “What do you think is wrong with 4B?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“The fourth W: walking.” I supplied. “I think she’s a prime candidate for a pulmonary ambulus.”

“And how would you diagnose?” Chief Callaghan continued.

I took in a deep breath and began to think of the proper diagnosis for this patient.

“Spiral CT, VQ scan, provide O2… dose with heparin, and consult for an IVC filter.” I enumerated shakily, playing with the pen I grasped in my hand.

“Do exactly as he says.” Chief Callaghan commanded Fred turning back to him. “Then tell your resident that I want you off this case.”

Fred nodded in compliance, looking defeated, before awkwardly shuffling out of the room. Chief Callaghan began walking towards me and patted my shoulder reassuringly. I gave a small smile at the gesture.

“I’d know you anywhere,” Chief Callaghan whispered, leaning his face slightly towards mine in a private conversation. “You’re the spitting image of your mother.” He leaned back away and looked at me closely and then gave a small parental smile. He patted my shoulder once more.

“Welcome to the gang,” he acknowledged before walking away towards the hallway behind me.

I turned around as I watched him retreat, awkwardly fidgeting with my fingers as thoughts of the past began flooding my head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> might take a short break after i finish this fic... get the juices flowing to my brain... get new ideas... :)
> 
> Have a happy weekend everyone!


	13. Such a High.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I can’t think of any one reason why I want to be a surgeon. But I could think of a thousand reasons why I should quit. They make it hard on purpose. There are lives in our hands. There comes a moment when it’s more than just a game… and we either take that step forward or turn around and walk away.
> 
> I could quit.
> 
> But here’s the thing… I love the playing field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for those of you who wanted more interactions between our favorite pairing: here you go... (´・ω・)ﾉ
> 
> hope you all like it.

I stepped out of the scrub room with my hair tied back under my scrub cap, and a surgical mask covering the lower half of my face, drying off my hands with a fresh towel. I stood by the entrance to the scrub room as I watched other residents and O.R. nurses prep Katie for her surgery.

One nurse was applying generous amounts of iodine on Katie’s now bald head while another checked the wires that connected her to the various monitors on the surgical floor.

Tadashi entered the room from behind me and was met with nurses carrying his surgical gown and gloves. I watched him slip his hands and arms through the sleeves of the gown while a nurse tied it securely. He plunged his hand into the gloves held open for him then made grabbing gestures to stretch out his fingers.

Even under all those layers of surgical attire, Tadashi still managed to look quite attractive. Or maybe it’s just because I already know how attractive he is without them… but still.

He glanced back at me briefly, eyes smiling, and went over to the head of the operating table. He clapped his hands together.

“Alright everyone,” he called out to the room glancing around at the people inside the O.R. and then at the doctors who were watching the procedure from the observation gallery. “It’s a beautiful day to save lives.” he announced. “Let’s have some fun!” before turning to the scrub nurse beside him, arm outstretched, palm up, and asked for the scalpel.

I watched Tadashi make the first cut on the exposed skin of Katie’s head and observed intently how his hands moved with precision and grace. Delicate yet deliberate.

The buzz of a skull drill pierced the air amidst the beeping sounds of the many machines and clanking of surgical tools on metal trays. I watched the procedure being performed right in front of me and was amazed by everything that was happening.

I don’t know how long I was standing there, observing. Maybe it was minutes… or maybe even hours. It didn’t matter. All that mattered to me at that point was this one chance to witness this amazing operation first hand.

When Tadashi called me, he motioned for me to come closer and take a look at what was under the surgical microscope. I glanced at him and then briefly, involuntary, glanced up at the gallery and found Gogo lurking by the gallery entrance, her arms crossed in front of her – her expression unreadable. I shuffled to Tadashi’s side and looked at him tentatively, waiting for his permission to proceed. Our eyes met and he gave a nod.

I peered down the scope and was astonished by what I saw. Despite all of the blood and the mushy, gooey, matter that is Katie Bryce’s brain, everything looked amazing. I would love to describe everything under the microscope in full detail in the best of my capacity as a surgeon to someone who was remotely interested… but that would most likely take hours.

And then, as I watched Dr. Hamada clamp a small steel clip in Katie’s brain, I realized something.

I can’t think of any one reason why I want to be a surgeon. But I could think of a thousand reasons why I should quit. They make it hard on purpose. There are lives in our hands. There comes a moment when it’s more than just a game… and we either take that step forward or turn around and walk away.

I could quit.

But here’s the thing… I love the playing field.

***

It’s already been forty-eight hours. My first shift as a surgical intern was officially over. I can’t begin to express just how exhausted I felt… but somehow, my fatigue didn’t bother me one bit. I was still feeling the high of being able to have a court side seat at an actual surgical procedure and learn firsthand from my teacher.

I still can’t believe I was able to scrub in with a hot doctor, for brain surgery, on my first day as a physician to boot!

What a rush!

After the surgery had finished and Katie’s head was sewn closed, I found myself sitting by the nurse’s station outside of the surgical floor. I pulled at my hair tie, letting my hair down after two days of having it tied up at the back of my head. I carded my fingers through my now greasy hair, shaking them a bit as suppressed a small yawn. I started staring blankly at the faux wood patterns of the station’s counter with a tired smile plastered on my face as I sat there, motionless.

It took a short while for me to notice someone standing a few feet away. When I glanced up at them, I was surprised to see Gogo looking at me.

“That was good surgery,” she acknowledged, eyeing the seat next to me.

“Yeah,” I nodded, pointing for her to sit.

We sat there in pregnant silence for a few moments before Gogo turned to me.

“We don’t have to do that thing where I say something and you say something… and somebody cries, and there’s like a moment…”

“Yuck.” I reacted, making a face in comic disgust at her before she could finish what she was trying to say.

“Great.” Gogo sighed gratefully, a hint of a smile on her lips. “You should get some sleep. You look like crap.” she stated with a playful tone.

“I look better than you.” I chortled.

“That’s not possible,” she chuckled back as she got up on her feet heading towards where ever she needed to be. I watched her walk away towards the end of the hall before she took a turn at a corner and disappeared from my view.

The door that separated the hall of operating rooms and the lobby was pulled open and out walked Tadashi, looking tired, haggard, and amazing. He headed directly towards the nurse’s station and placed Katie’s chart on the counter. He roughly pulled his scrub cap off his head, freeing his messy hair, and reached for a pen behind the counter. I looked at him, watching him open the chart and pen down his updates about Katie’s condition.

“That was amazing.” I smiled, grabbing his attention. He turned to face me and he gave me a tired smile of his own, nodding and humming his agreement.

“You practice on cadavers… you observe,” I continued with a slightly hoarse voice as he kept his attention on me. “And you think you know what you’re going to feel standing over that table, but…” I paused, watching his tired smile grow wider.

“That was such a high!” I exclaimed, and he laughed his affirmation. The soft sound like chimes to my ears. “I don’t know why anybody does drugs.”

“Yeah…” he sighed, nodding in agreement.

We looked at each other with these smiles on our faces, reveling in the small silence we shared. I noticed Tadashi inch a bit closer toward me, but he stopped himself and leaned back on the table. I didn’t miss that small exertion of effort in his eyes, though… like he was trying his damnest not to come and sit by my side.

“I should, uh… go do this,” twitching his head a bit to the side as he closed Katie’s chart and pulled it towards his chest, his other hand clenching and unclenching nervously at his side.

“You should.” I encouraged, nodding.   

“I’ll see you around,” Tadashi muttered as he gave me one last smile before turning around to leave.

“See you around.” I called to him as I watched his retreating back disappear from view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is almost done... just a short epilogue after this... ＿〆(。。)


	14. Epilogue: I am a Doctor.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She looked at me, then… her face wrinkled with a slight frown. “Are you the doctor?” she asked, uncertainty and impatience evident in her raspy voice.
> 
> “No. I’m not your doctor.” I answered, smiling as I shook my head. “But I am a doctor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the end of "A Hard Day's Night" fic... 
> 
> i hope all of you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> ┻┳|･ω･)ﾉ

“So, I made it though my first shift. We all did,” I smiled, recounting the past forty-eight hours of my first shift as a surgical intern.

“The other interns are all good people, you’d like them. I think,” talking about Leiko – who insisted on being called ‘Gogo’ – who’s somewhat like me in some aspects, thinking of how well we got along; Wasabi who was dependable but completely whiny; and Aiko – who we started calling ‘Honey’ as well due to her sweet and caring personality.

“I don’t know… Maybe…” I mumbled, looking into lost and confused eyes. “I like them.”

“Oh, and I changed my mind. I’m not going to sell the house. I’m going to keep it,” stating my decision to live in my old house. I sat there, across from her, as I laced my fingers together on my lap. “I’ll have to get a couple of roommates…” trying to get her attention once more as she turned away from me with a bored expression, “but its home, you know?”

She looked at me, then… her face wrinkled with a slight frown. “Are you the doctor?” she asked, uncertainty and impatience evident in her raspy voice.

“No. I’m not your doctor.” I answered, smiling as I shook my head. “But I am a doctor.”

This did not take away the frown from her lips. She started fidgeting with the watch she wore on her left wrist as she gave me another confused look.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

I took in a calming breath as I tried desperately to be not affected by her innocent question. I smiled at her again, hoping it looked reassuring than hurt.

“It’s me, mom,” I sighed, choking a bit at a small sob. “Hiro.”

“Alright…” she mumbled as she continued fidgeting with her watch. I smiled sadly at the lack comprehension on her face as she stared at my own. I fought back the tears that were threatening to spill from my eyes as I looked back at her.

I realized… it was getting worse.

“I used to be a doctor, I think...” she mumbled under her breath, as the fidgeting intensified some.

I reached out to the hand that my mother was toying with and held it in both of my own. It caught her off guard, as she gave me a lost, questioning look. I smiled again at her, reassuring her that I was no threat to her wellbeing.

“You were a doctor, mom.” I confirmed, gripping her hands gently in my grasp, “You were a surgeon.”

She let out a small huff and turned to look away from me as she stared off into the distance. I held on to my mother’s hand, hoping that she hasn’t forgotten me entirely, as we both sat together in one corner of the home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is not the _end_. 
> 
> I'm still planning on adding to this universe... there are more Grey's moments that are just too good to pass! (●´艸`)  
> Already began parts of sequels and one shots to this fic. So expect some more Hidashi moments when I post again... (´・ω・)ﾉ
> 
> I do plan on starting this as a series... Though I'm not quite sure what to call it yet.
> 
> Sorry if this update was very short. I just really needed to end this fic like how the pilot ended... Though I might be setting myself up for more updates along the way. But that's a challenge I'm willing to take...! 
> 
> will just take a short break. will be gone for two weeks for some Winter fun in Tokyo. ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ  
> Maybe I will get a lot of ideas for new fics that's not doctors au while I'm there...

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be working on my other fic but I sort of needed a break from Hiro's adventures in Jukai... and then I got back into watching Grey's Anatomy and figured... "hmmmm... i could do a Hidashi twist on this."
> 
> And I guess I should probably thank hoshikuzunome of tumblr for making me think of re-watching Grey's because of their 'Hot Doctor' fic... *teehee*
> 
> Again, comments and constructive criticisms will be highly appreciated... and kudos are really wonderful gifts for writers-in-the-works like me... :3


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